Finding Sky: Zed's Point of View
by Aliceoflegend
Summary: the whole book from Zed's point of view, starting at Sky's first day of school, the music lesson and going on from there!
1. Chapter 1: Meeting Sky

_I do not own Finding Sky or anything in it! This is basically the whole book from Zed's point of view from Sky's first day. Some extra scenes that Sky was not there to hear will be put in, so be warned! Sorry if i get some American stuff wrong, but i am English so please forgive and forget!_

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><p>Another day of school. Another day of mindless boredom. I had already chosen which classes I would be skipping in favor of other things. However there was one difference to today: there was a new girl. Not that I cared – how could she possibly be different from every other girl in the world? They were all the same. The school was buzzing with the news – a new British girl. Did she have a funny accent? Was she posh? I shook my head in disgust.<p>

I rode into school alone as usual, ignoring my family's worried looks and would-be-kind words, offerings to talk, crap like that. I didn't want to talk to anyone – I just wanted to be alone.

I caught a glimpse of the new girl – _Sky Bright_, what a stupid name – at the end of school. A tiny girl, so small she almost looked like a child, with long blonde hair pulled back into a plait, baby hair curling around her forehead, wearing a Union Jack hoodie – well, she certainly didn't blend in. I just snorted and muttered goodbyes to my friends before riding off. I couldn't be bothered to be stared at anymore.

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><p>The next day was similar. I hung out in the parking lot before my Mum's voice came to ear and guilt forced me inside to my lesson – Music, with Mr Keneally. He was all rough edges, but as long as it didn't outwardly mock him, he would keep his anger below boiling point. I slammed the door open, strolling in as Mr Keneally was in mid-rant. He looked like he was lecturing the new girl, who looked like she wanted to blend into the wall behind her. She was sitting next to the shaved boy, Nelson, but I barely glanced their way, going to sit next to Yves, who looked pissed at my late arrival, fiddling with his clarinet. I saw all the girls in the room sit up a little straighter, push their chests out a little more, and I assumed an amused expression, not saying a word.<p>

"Mr Benedict, so kind of you to join us," Mr Keneally said sarcastically "all of us are thrilled you've torn yourself away from your no doubt far more important schedule to make music with us, even if your arrival is somewhat tardy." It was so Mr Keneally: dry, annoyed, long-winded. A piss-take. I rose an eyebrow in challenge, rolling my drumstick in my hands to stop me from doing something I'd regret with this annoying little man.

"I'm late?" I rumbled innocently, seeing the effect it had on Keneally. Yves elbowed me in the ribs, but I ignored him completely.

"Yes, you are late. I believe it is custom in this school to apologise to the teacher if you arrive after they do." He ground out between clenched teeth. I stopped fiddling with the drumsticks and stared at the man for awhile. Would it be worth just saying no?

"Sorry," not worth it – Mum would have me roasting on a spit before the day was out if I got suspended again. The tension that had been building in the room suddenly disappeared. Conflict adverted – for now.

"You're not – but that'll have to do. Watch your step, Mr Benedict: you may be talented but I'm not interested in prima donnas who don't know how to treat fellow musicians. You, Miss Bright, are you a team player?" Keneally turned his threatening eyes from me to Sky who, in our battle, had been blissfully forgotten "Or are you afflicted with the same attitude as our Mr Zed Benedict?" I could hear the jab in his words. Sky frowned at the question, but a spark of fear glowed in her eyes.

"I. . . I don't know. But I've been late too." She replied in a small voice. My eyes flicked to her and then away again; yep, she was definitely scared. She probably didn't like conflict or anything like that. A wise but silly thing – there would always be conflict in the world. I knew that best of all.

"Let's find out what you can do. Jazz band fall in." Keneally threw wads of sheet music at the people as he spoke to them "Mr Hoffman, you take sax; Yves Benedict, clarinet part. Maybe you could prevail upon your brother to delight us all on the drums?"

"Of course, Mr Keneally," forever the loyal suck-up, Yves complied with a sugar-coated voice, saving the dark look for me "Zed, get over here." I was already up and moving to my place on the drums, anticipating the one place I could lose all my troubles. The one place I could get lost.

"Miss Bright can play my place at the piano." Keneally caressed the piano like it was his first-born child and I rolled my eyes.

"Um. . . Mr Keneally, I'd prefer –" Sky started timidly – she was definitely scared, shy.

"Sit."

Sky sat. Nelson muttered something reassuringly in her ear.

"Ok, take it away." Keneally said, choosing a comfortably spot to watch and listen from. I stared the smooth piece, hearing all the other instruments fall into place around me – the feather-light touch of the clarinet, countered with a harmony of deep, grounding sax and, on top of it all, joining the sounds together like a weaver's thread was the honey of the piano, Sky's fingers teasing sounds out of it and making them into rich, powerful tunes and patterns. I felt the music beat inside of me like my own heart, like someone was pulling at a tight string inside of me and making my fingers and toes vibrate with the repercussions. It was almost like I could see it in my head, like reading separate letters and joining them to make a word, a sentence, a story for everyone to hear and understand just like I did. I looked over at Sky, who was still playing away, pulsing the same energy I kept tight inside of me. She understood too – she understood what music could do and say and _be_.

"Very good, nay, excellent!" Keneally declared when we had finished "I fear I've just been bumped from the jazz band." He smiled and winked at Sky. I fought off a snort. Nelson said something in a low voice to her, but she didn't look up, examining the reflection of her hands on the piano lid, tracing out a soundless tune with the very tips of her fingers, oh so gently. Yves moved forwards and Nelson stood straight again.

"Sky, meet Yves." Nelson introduced, gesturing to Yves.

"Hi. You're good." Yves, cool as a cucumber, complimented, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Thanks," she smiled politely and I almost smiled at her accent. _So_ posh.

"That's my idiot brother, Zed." He waved a careless hand towards me. Suddenly I wasn't so amused. How dare he just wave me off? I had seen more than he could dream of, seen terrible things, and I deserved to be appreciated for them, not just waved off.

"Come on, Yves." I growled angrily. He ignored me, which set my teeth on edge even more.

"Don't mind him." he told Sky "He's like this with everyone." Nelson laughed.

"You twins?" Sky asked, her eyes flicked between me and Yves. _God, how stupid is this girl? _I asked myself.

"No way." Yves shook his head "I've a year on him. I'm a senior. He's the baby of the family." Sky looked at me sceptically.

"Gee, thanks, bro, I'm sure she wanted to know that." I folded my arms and tapped my foot, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"See you at band practice." Yves tugged me away. I could feel Sky's eyes on my back as we walked out the door.

"Do you have to be so freaking rude all the time?" snapped Yves when we were out of ear-shot.

"I want to leave," I hissed, and at that second, I wasn't sure if I mean school or the whole of America itself.

"Look," he pulled me to a stop "I know you're having a tough time right now, but you need to grow up and work through it. I know I said you were the baby of the family, but that doesn't mean you're the most babyish." Yves walked off, leaving me to fume in the empty corridor at his words.

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><p><strong><em>So, what do we think? Please review if you think my characters are wrong or anything like that!<em>**


	2. Chapter 2: Rescuing Sky

Mum heard of the music thing. I blame Yves, but she didn't give anyone away. As punishment, I was on shopping duty at the weekend – it was my job to go and get the shopping for the family. I fulfilled my duty loyally and with minimum grumbling.

"There," I threw the last bag on the kitchen counter "all done."

"Wait!" Mum called freezing me in my tracks "You forgot the milk, Zed! You'll have to go back and get some more. Hurry!" With much cursing (which never got me anywhere but in more trouble with my Mum) I jumped on my bike and zoomed off, riding way too fast round the corners just to piss her off. I would pay for it later, but for then revenge was sweet.

I was striding through the shelves when I heard it – the voice that puts fear in the heart of any man in a hurry. Mrs Hoffman.

". . .these pesky shelves so tall?" she was moaning "I've a mind to call the manager."

"No, no," a delicate voice rushed "I can get it." I walked to the end of the aisle just in time to see Sky peering at me with an annoyed expression, then looking back up at the shelf again. It was too high for both the old lady and the young girl, but I would be able to reach it. I was just about to dive for cover when Mrs Hoffman saw me too. Too late now.

"Well, look there, it's that Benedict boy – Xav – no, Zed. Foolish names if you ask me." She made no attempt to keep her voice down, the rude old lady. _Good thing no one did ask you then,_ I thought sourly.

"Shall we call him over?" she continued hopefully. _Oh, God, please, no_, I begged silently.

"It's OK, I can get it." Sky said, climbing the shelf clumsily. _This is going to end in tears_, I thought amusedly, watching to see what will happen. Her hand reached for the elusive jar, almost there. She grabbed it just as her foot slipped and she fell backwards onto the floor. Time seemed to slow down and as my eyes stared at the shattering glass, red sauce splattering over the white lino floor, my mind's eye was crowded with a vision:

_A knife._

_It was covered in blood, practically dripping with the stuff, hurtling downwards. _

_Sky's horrified face as she screamed, eyes wide and glistening with fear._

_Blood, everywhere, blood on everything._

I gasped as I was brought back to the present, not half a second after the accident.

"Bummer!" Sky was moaning.

"Sky Bright, I won't stand for such unladylike language!" chastised Mrs Hoffman. The assistant, Leanne, arrived, pulling her little cleaning cart along behind her.

"I'm not paying for that, Leanne." Said Mrs Hoffman immediately, pointing at the shattered jar and sauce that suddenly looked too much like blood for my comfort. Sky struggled to her feet, her hand twitching towards where she fell on her ass. It must have hurt.

_But not as much as getting stabbed will_, a dark voice sing-songed in my mind and I shook it away.

"It was my fault," Sky said, her hand scratching in her pocket for money and bringing out a five dollar bill.

"Put your money away, honey," Leanne said "It was an accident. We all saw that." Not wanting her to smash another jar, I quickly walked towards them and picked another jar from the shelf, putting it in Mrs Hoffman's basket wordlessly. Mrs Hoffman beamed at me.

"Thank you, Zed. It is Zed, isn't it?" she said gratefully, forgetting that a moment ago she had been criticising my name for being foolish. I nodded, looking at sky unhappily. I didn't want to be responsible for her safety, but now that I'd seen the vision, it was my duty, my job to keep her safe. And I hated it.

"How are your parents, Zed dear?" Mrs Hoffman continued and I groaned internally. I wouldn't be getting home any time soon, not unless Sky was merciful enough to save me, and I didn't think anyone was _that_ kind. Now when Mrs Hoffman was involved.

"They're OK," I replied, hoping short answers would put her off "Ma'am." I added politely.

"And your older brothers, what are they doing these days?" she continued happily. Sky slipped away with a small 'bye'.

"Traitor," I hissed after her, but I couldn't be sure if she heard or not.

"Zed, dear? I asked how your brothers were?" repeated Mrs Hoffman, looking concerned that someone wasn't giving her their 100% undivided attention.

"They're doing fine," I growled back, unwilling to let my will-be-victim out of my sight and alone when the world was so dangerous – my vision proved that at least "I've gotta go – sorry." And I shot off and out the store. She hadn't gotten too far, so I followed her all the way home to make sure she was safe. She shot be weird looks but I didn't stop until she was behind a locked door and out of sight.

The next day's news was all about the shooting in Denver. No that I needed the news to know exactly what happened – in fact, I was very probably better informed about the case than most of the policemen on it. We didn't go to school that day, ironically the one day I was eager to go in to see if Sky was still alive. I had to learn to relax about her, but I couldn't. It was like this with every vision I got – everything bad I saw, I was obsessed with stopping. If I let it happen, I had failed. And I couldn't fail Sky, not when I had failed so many others. 

_Not Sky_.

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><p><strong><em>In case you haven't guessed, the title refers to Zed rescuing Sky from Mrs Hoffman! I wasn't sure when Zed got his vision about Sky's stabbing, so i put it in here as it seemed to fit well.<em>**


	3. Chapter 3: Revealing Sky

"Zed," Mum sounded shocked that I was so late "why are you late? Where's the milk?"

"I didn't get it," I said harshly, strolling into the living room where Dad sat with Yves and Xav. Good – they were all together "I had a vision." I announced and every head turned to me. I collapsed on the sofa, running my hands through my hair.

"What was it of?" Xav pressed.

"Sky," I said simply "the new girl."

"Wait, Sky Bright?" Yves said, and Xav snorted at her name "The pianist in the jazz band? _My_ Sky Bright?"

"Do we know any other 'Sky Bright's?" I snapped and rubbed my eyes with my hands "It was horrible. There was a knife. A bloody knife, behind thrust downwards. And blood, lots and lots of blood. Too much blood. And then Sky, screaming for her life. She was so scared."

"It's OK, Zed, we can stop it," Dad reassured me, slapping me on the back comfortingly "we can stop Sky from getting hurt. We'll just have to keep an eye on her, that's all."

"But I don't want to keep an eye on her," I shouted, standing and moving away from my family "I don't want to have to watch her like I'm her babysitter! She's just a stupid, English girl!"

"Either we watch over her or she dies," said dad with quiet intensity, looking me in the eye "which would you rather? Would you want her blood on your hands?"

"I already have enough blood on my hands, what is hers going to change?"I snapped, but I immediately regretted the words. Mum gasped.

"That's not true," she shouted furiously "you tried everything you could to save those people – we all did. It is not our fault they are dead, no more than it is yours!"

"You won't be protecting her alone, Zed," Xav reassured "we're all here – it's all of our responsibilities to do anything we can to help her."

"Ok, Ok, fine!" I growled, pacing in a circle "I get it. I have to do this. I'm going to bed."

"No, you're not," Dad said gently "we've got to get to Denver. Your brothers are waiting for us." I groaned and punched the wall angrily.

"Fine!" I shouted as they exchanged worried, knowing looks "Let's go. And don't give me that look. I know what's happening – I know what's happening to me!" I roared "But some of us won't find our soulfinders in time. So let's just leave it and go do our jobs, ok?" and I marched out, leaving them alone to whisper between them about me and what I was turning into.

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><p><strong><em>As in, revealing Zed's vision of sky to his family, just in case you're wondering. Just a little thing i wanted to put in so that we knew the family knows.<em>**


	4. Chapter 4: Reading Sky

I came home from Denver at the weekend, tired and ready to drop dead. But I couldn't sleep – I had to be alone to process what I had seen. To deal with it. So I went to the one place I knew no one went to – the Ghost Town. It felt nice to sit there and know you were alone, that you could do anything or say anything without people judging you or listening in, because no one was there. I ran my hand through my hair for the fortieth time that day. God, I needed that. I walked up over the hill, looking for my favourite bench to sit and mull over the world, when I saw her. Little Miss Sky Bright, all alone and vulnerable. How easy would it be to stab her, if I were a murdered? No one would hear her screams, and it would take days, maybe even weeks, to find her body in this mess of a place. Too easy. And I was angry with her for letting it be this way – why could he be out having fun with her friends? With Nelson? Instead, she was alone here and so close to danger I could almost taste it in the air. I stepped backwards to leave, but I trod on a twig and it snapped loudly. She swivelled and her big eyes found me.

"Perfect, just what I need," I muttered angrily, taking another step backwards. She stood.

"I'm going." She said confidently.

"Forget it. I'll come back later."

"I was just heading home in any case." She contradicted determinedly. I stood there and looked at her, waiting for her to take a step away, to follow through with her words. But she just looked back. Suddenly she closed her eyes and shivered, swaying slightly on her feet.

"Please – don't do that." She said, holder her hand towards me, palm up. A stop-sign.

"Don't do what?" What was this maniac girl talking about now?

"Look at me like that." She snapped, but behind her voice there was a fragile weakness that made me listen to her and look away.

"Look at you like what?" I repeated, kicking a piece of wood on the floor.

"I don't want to talk about it." She marched off, bee-lining for the exit "Forget it." But for some reason I didn't want to forget it. I wanted to know more.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." I caught her arm to stop her, but the look in her eyes made me drop it again "Look. . . er. . . Sky, isn't it?" I rolled my eyes slowly, regretting what I was just about to do – involve myself. I almost shuddered, but controlled it and expressed my discomfort as a dark scowl instead.

"There's something you need to know."

"What?" I could sense her confusion – I hadn't even been aware that I had been connecting with her mind until then. But the connection would make things easier, make it easier to tell her.

"Be careful at night. Don't go out alone." I warned evasively. More confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"The other night I saw. . . Look, just be careful, OK?"

"_No, not OK. He was one scary guy."_

"You've got that right." I grunted back.

_"What? I hadn't said that aloud, had I?"_ I swore as I realised she hadn't been speaking – she'd been thinking those things. Her mind was so clear it was almost Savant. I kicked the mining gear in frustration. Sky hugged her arms to her sides – _trying to make herself a smaller target._

_ This is my fault,_ her thoughts came through again, _I'd done something – I don't know what – something to set him off._

"No, you haven't!" I snapped, willing her to understand that this was not her fault – everyone at Wrickenridge knew about her troubled, abusive past "None of this is your fault, you hear?" I calmed down and lowered my voice "And now I'm just scaring the hell out of you, aren't I?"

Her body froze.

"Fine." I said "I'll leave." And I slouched off and talking to myself "Well that went well, you fucking moron – you try to warn the girl and end up scaring her out of her fucking mind."

This was hopeless.


	5. Chapter 5: Soaking Sky

Time passed. I was thankful of it – time away from everyone else. Time away from Yves and his worried looks. Time away from Xav and his annoying attentiveness. Time away from Sky. Sky. Despite myself, I had a fascination with the bambi-like girl. She stumbled around school, barely keeping her footing, but still slipping up every now and again, to be rescued by her friends Tina and Nelson. It was funny to watch her do things; she was so shocked when people said things to her without prompting, as though she thought no one would want her company. It relaxed me, reassured me that in this tiny girl there was some goodness. There was still goodness in the world.

That was why I was out on the rapids with Yves and Xav, bouncing through the rough water like it was jelly. I smiled slyly as I narrowed my eyes, concentrating on that little part of my mind that held my savant inheritance, me power, anticipating each churn in the water, each splash and spill. I zoomed forwards, laughing at my brothers struggling behind, whooping and punching the air when I crossed the finish line first.

"No way!" Yves shouted annoyedly "That was unfair, Zed – we know you cheated on that!"

"Yeah, you don't catch me using my powers to win stuff – it's just not _fair_!" Xav chimed in.

"Yeah, that's because your powers wouldn't help _at all_ unless it was a competition to see who heals fastest." I snorted back.

"Still, it's not fair," Yves grumbled.

"Stop whining," I laughed back, feeling high as the moon on my recent win.

"I know what I need," Xav said with an evil smile "Revenge!" then he leaned forwards and pushed me into the water. I had seen it coming, but hadn't had time to move away – but the stream was gentle and I just bobbed to the surface again, grabbing Xav and hauling him in after me. Yves laughed on the bank, mercifully dry – but not for long. With a rare flash of intuition, Xav and I joined forces to get our brother just as wet as we were via splashing. Getting back up onto the bank, we all collapsed and laughed until it got hard to breathe and we had to stop.

_Boys,_ a voice in my mind said, a voice with Dad's voice, and we all looked up – they had heard too. Dad was standing there, with a small group of teenagers from school. I recognised Nelson, and Neil, and of course, Sky, her little golden-blonde head barely visible over the towering figures of others.

"Get the raft launched, Dad, and I'll be right with you when I get changed," Xav yelled to him "Zed'll take the kayaker." We all stood and headed towards the ski station while the group bustled along to the rapids, Bambi and Tina in close conversation. I could see occasional glimpses at me, and I gave up to curiosity. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the little sparks of light around me – minds, thoughts, feelings. I tuned in on the small yellow one: hello Bambi.

_. . . can't understand him. Why does he hate me? Is he racist? I don't understand – maybe it's an American thing? Is he testing me like Mr Keneally? Tina says it's his problem, not mine, but still, it's annoying. Why does he hate me? _

Suddenly, I flipped out of Sky's mind, ashamed at what I had just done. I had read her thoughts to satisfy my own selfish wants. I never used to be like this – god knows I used to be different, kinder, better. My eyes fell to the water still bubbling down the river I had just vacated and my mind's eye flashed with an unbidden image.

_Water, angry water, bubbling and boiling ruthlessly. There was no mercy here._

_Sky, eyes wide, looking straight at me as she fell backwards into that same water, disappearing. I couldn't hope that she would be ok – nature could be cruel sometimes_. _My heart beating in my throat. Fear that she wouldn't resurface._

I flashed back, stumbling from the vision. It seemed my lot at the moment to get terrifying visions of Sky Bright's death or possibly demise – at least if she drowned today she wouldn't live to get stabbed. I shook my head and quickly changed out of my wetsuit and into shorts and a life jacket.

"I've got the rafters," I told Yves and Xav. They gave me curious looks and I shot them images of my vision. They agreed happily to switch round. I nodded, noticing their wary looks, and jogged up to Dad and the group.

"Xav and Yves are taking the kayaker," I explained briefly. I didn't want to worry dad with the vision of Sky's 'drowning' – he wouldn't need to now, not when I was going to stop it. Dad frowned.

"I thought that was your job," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I saw that he was going to be a jerk. Yves' better at handling that." I answered. He would believe me. Dad looked like he wanted to object, but his eyes slid to the listening group and his lips stopped. Instead, he told the teens to get into the group, with Sky wedged next to Nelson and me. I looked at my hands in my lap – anywhere but at those big blue eyes. It was too soon after the vision, too close to the event. No – wait – there would be no event. I would stop it.

"Girl in the middle at the front – Sky, isn't it?" Dad said. I rolled my eyes – just like him, putting her at ease by not knowing her name before asking. Of course, he already knew her name. He had made a mission of protecting her from her bloody fate, so he knew her name back to front.

"Yes, sir?" she replied, looking distracted. She was blending in to American life well then – at least she had the formalities down pat.

"If it gets rough, link arms with your neighbours. Girls up the end, make sure your feet stay in the toeholds on the bottom of the raft when it starts to buck. They'll keep you from falling in." Next to Sky, Nelson grunted.

"Not worried about us boys then, is he?" he said arrogantly.

"He thinks men should be able to look after themselves." I said loudly "Got a problem with that?" Sky smiled amusedly at my words. That confused me – why was she smiling when I was threatening her friend? Maybe if I just peeked. . . NO! _Keep her mind her own_, I thought to myself furiously. Dad pushed off, ignoring our little. . . thing. I pulled some strong strokes and we were flying over the water. Dad shouted instructions, instinctually taking the lead, and everyone followed unhesitatingly. Sky bit her lip like she was fighting off screams.

"Oh my God." She squealed when we passed a big rock "We're never going to survive that." I grinned and pushed the boat forwards again, heading straight for the drain up ahead. This time, Sky did scream, and it brought back echoes of my visions. Blood mixing with angry water. Sharp, glinting blades mixing with a falling and disappearing Sky. I pushed the images away, concentrating on Nelson's moronic whooping beside Sky.

"Devil's Cauldron's looking a bit frisky," Dad commented, not noticing my mental break-down in the middle "Keep us central, boys." I obeyed like a loyal dog – outside of work, I would rebel and disagree with my Dad all I liked, but in the rapids his word was law. The raft thrust side to side, Sky smacking into me than Nelson, but she still didn't take my arm for support. I looked to the side and saw her other arm wound through Nelson's, but the arm closes to me clutching her stomach for support.

"Having fun?" Nelson bellowed to Sky.

"In an awful 'I'm-gunna-die-any-moment' way, yes!" she yelled back, water dripping down her face and off the ends of her soaked hair. The water had dyed it darker. I tried to ignore that I had notice that. Then it happened. The raft got wedged between two rocks. It was a common occurrence, but I had a flash of recognition, almost de ja vu. This was it. This was the moment.

"I'm going to push us off!" Dad called back to us "All to the right." We followed his orders and I crushed Sky between my shoulder and Nelson.

"Left!" we all lurched to the other side.

"Back to your places!" again, we hurriedly did as he said and I threw my arms around Sky, planning on keeping her planted to the ground under my weight, forcing her face into the water on the bottom of the raft.

"Keep hold or you'll fall in," I shouted, even though my mouth was at her ear – I didn't want to risk not being heard. She floundered under me, choking and struggling to her feet. She flew to the side of the raft, water splashing everywhere, and then she was gone. I looked just in time to see the scene from my vision; Sky falling backwards into the furious water, fingers grasping the empty air for something to save her. Tina screamed and Dad's whistle screeched around us.

"Sky!" Nelson yelled, looking around for a glimpse of blonde hair just like I was.

_Float!_ I screamed the word into her mind – she wouldn't understand, her mind was too simple, but her instincts would get the general gist. We all waited desperately for some sign of her, but all we got were small glimpses of colour – her red helmet, orange life jacket, blue jeans. Finally, she was spat out in the cool mercy of an eddie, clinging to a boulder like a drowned cat.

"Oh my God, Sky! Are you OK?" Tina shrieked. We steered the boat beside her and I pulled her into it, Nelson clumsily hindering, and checked for injuries, trying to keep the relief from my voice and face.

"She's fine." I kept my voice cool "A bit scraped up but fine." We finished the course in dull spirits, understandably, but I couldn't help but keep the glower from my gaze. I had caused the vision. Without me, she would have been fine. It was my fault; who was to sat the stabbing wouldn't be brought about by me too? I couldn't risk letting her alone, but it was something to dwell on. As we got out, Sky pointedly kept her gaze from me, her lips pouted adorably, and went to receive the hugs and concerned questions from her friends. I helped Dad unload the raft, no longer curious about what she was thinking – I could read it all perfectly well on her face. Dad led the way over to her.

"You all right, Sky?" he asked. She just nodded, her lips shut tight.

"What happened?" he demanded at me, making the words sound more accusing than they really needed. I opened my mouth to reply but Sky got there first.

"He flattened me – made me lose my grip!" she fumed.

"I realised what was going to happen – I tried to warn her." I countered. Dad and I both knew what my words really meant. And anyway, how dare she be angry? I tried to save her – she should be throwing herself at my feet, thanking me continuously. Ungrateful girl.

"You _made_ it happen." And there it was. The same thing I had been telling myself ever since it had happened – she had struck a nerve, more than she knew.

"I tried to stop it – shoulda just left you to it." I shot back coldly.

"Yeah, perhaps you should – and then I wouldn't be freezing to death here!" God, she was fiery when she was angry. I couldn't help but be fascinated by this new side to the English Sweetheart.

"Enough!" Dad stepped between us "Sky, get in the jeep before you get any colder. Zed, a word." He grabbed my arms and took me awhile away.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed "Talking to people will not win you points, especially when you are meant to be protecting her!"

"It's not my fault she can't see a favour even if she falls into angry rapids out of it!" I cried back, furious he was blaming this on me "It's _her_ fault."

"She is normal." He replied "She doesn't understand and never will. Cut her some slack." I growled, having no reply to his watertight logic, and stormed off.


	6. Chapter 6: Hearing Sky

I stayed away in Ghost Town until late that night, flipping back and forth between the empty, broken-down village and the little look-out point where everything looked so perfect, so familiar and calm that I couldn't help bet relax and think about the rafting and Sky with a leveller head.

Therefore, I was on a higher level when I returned to school on Monday. As usual, I leant on my bike with the boys, arms crossed, examining every face that walked past, looking for a challenging gaze – a fight. My eyes, if by some other power, lazily drooped to two orbs of forget-me-not blue fire. Sky. I looked her up and down – no stab wounds since the weekend – then dismissed her. She held no other interest for me. At least, that's what I told myself. I felt a job on my ribs and looked up to see the angry blonde storming towards me. My lips quirked in amusement as heads swivelled to watch her progress.

"Just what is your problem?" she growled.

"_Whoa, had I really just said that?" _I was doing it again. But her thoughts were just so _there_, so loud. It wasn't _my_ fault.

"What?" I drawled, pulling out my sunglasses so she wouldn't see the emotion in my eyes. I would remain the cold, cool, unreachable Zed.

"I almost get drowned yesterday thanks to you and you made it sound like it was my fault." She snapped. I stared her down, waiting for her to continue.

"You were more to blame than I was for what happened in the raft." Her words seemed lees angry, more cautious now, but her eyes didn't break contact with mine. She was strong. But that didn't stop me.

"_I was to blame?"_ I spluttered – how dare she talk to me like this?

"I knew zilch about rafting – you were the expert – go figure who was most in the wrong."

"Who's the angry chick, Zed?" Robbie, a fellow biker, smirked. I shrugged and said the thing I knew would hurt her the most.

"No one."

She flinched like I had punched her in the gut. I stood my ground.

"I am not 'no one'." She said with quiet fury, and somehow it was worse than her shouting "At least I'm not an arrogant pain-in-the-backside with a permanent sneer."

_"Shut up, Sky, shut up – do you have a death wish?"_ her voice berated herself and I almost smiled. In the background, my friends howled appreciatively.

"Zed, she's got you nailed," James hooted, looking Sky up and down with new eyes. I fought back a punch that would have him spinning into the next century.

"Yeah, she's something else." I shrugged, hiding the truth in my words with nonchalance, and nodded to the main building "Run along, BoPeep."

She straightened proudly, clutching her books to her chest, and marched off, the student body parting to make a path for her. I heard Tina talking hurriedly with her and her mumbled, evasive replies and smiled. Yes, she was something else.

Last Friday of September. Soccer day. It was a good day – at least I would aim and kick the ball in the right direction, unlike some of the clutzy, brain-dead kids in the school – but I wasn't really paying attention. Ever since Sky had ripped into me in front of the school, I couldn't think about anything else – about how right she was about me, about how she could see right through my attitude and outside mask to the selfish, hateful Zed inside. And I thought about how I used to be, before the weight of the world had been dumped on my shoulders. I was happy – I was innocent. And, most of all, one word kept on swirling around in my mind: _Souldfinder. _Who was she? When would I meet her? Would I ever meet her? What if it was already too late, and when – if – I find her she doesn't want to talk to me, or even look at me? All our lives, that one word, that possibility had been haunting us, taunting us. Not just the knowing of what our other half would be and would do for us – it was right in front of us, taunting us in the form of our love-sick parents. And it was getting harder to stand each day. As usual I was assigned Captain of team A. Lucky, lucky me, guess who was Captain of team B? Sky-fricking-Bright. It seemed the universe wanted us to sort out our problems. Yeah right.

"OK, Zed," Mr Joe said "you win the toss. It's fifteen minutes each way. Good luck!" I was sure that last was for Sky and not for me. She had been at this school a month and she already had more friends in high places that I did. Typical.

Sky went for a defensive goal position. I shook my head – she was way too small, and obviously didn't know what she was doing – and got into my position: attacking. I was going to _cu-rush_ her. Ten minutes in and we were winning 5-0. Sky was having a hard time and I heard mutinous mutterings coming from her team. Despite myself, I felt bad for the little English Biscuit. She didn't have a hope in hell. The teams converged at half time, and I listened in on team B. Just to check Sky wasn't getting _too_ hard a time – people could get stabbed over matters of sport, couldn't they? It was for her safety.

"Tactics?" Sheena demanded. I could see Sky's helpless expression from half way across the pitch. I felt a stab of rage at Sheena for putting Sky on the spot like that.

"Um. . . well – well done, Nelson, great goal. Let's have more of those, please." Sky stumbled over her words.

"That's it?" Sneered Sheena, inspecting her nails "Your Tactics? _More goals, please?_ Sheesh, look, I broke one. Do you think they'd let me retire injured?" _Well_, I thought reasonably, _she hadn't got the best team in the world. It's not her fault they're losing miserably._

"I don't play football – I mean soccer – back home." She shrugged helplessly "I didn't want to be Captain. Sorry." Right then, I just wanted to hug her and tell her it was OK. That it wasn't her fault. To reassure her.

"This is so humiliating," grumbled Neil (said the boy who was on the cheerleading team). No, I didn't want to reassure Sky – I wanted to punch Neil "Mr Joe promised you'd be great." Ok, now I wanted to kill him. Sky looked like she was going to burst into tears with one more harsh word.

"Then he was wrong, wasn't he?" Expecting em to be good at football is like expecting all Welsh people to be able to sing." Her admission was met with blank faces – where was Wales again? "Just stop letting so many of them past you with the ball and then I wouldn't have save so many."

"Save!" shrieked Sheena incredulously "You've not saved a single one. And if you do, I'll eat my sneakers." The whistle blew and we swapped side. For some reason, I grabbed Sky's arm and stopped her.

"What now?" she snapped "Gunna rub it in some more that I'm rubbish? No need, my team's done that already." I could hear the hurt in her voice loud and clear and was shocked at myself. Is that really all I've been doing? Well, I guess I deserved that anyway.

"No, Sky, I was going to tell you that you're down that end this half." I said gently. Her face crumbled again and then built back up quickly. Oh God, please don't cry, please don't cry. . . instead she rubbed her wrist to her face and spun around to get back in goal. The game continued and that bitch Sheena brought me down. Penalty for me.

And here I was. Facing a terrified Sky, the whole school watching.

"Go on, Sky, you can do it!" Tina yelled from off the side. I put the ball down and glanced at Sky sympathetically.

_"Dive to your left."_ I whispered it in her mind. She would get the gist. She rubbed her head like she had a headache.

_"Dive to your left."_ I held her gaze and repeated it. She shook her head and I ran up, kicking the ball to the left. She seemed to make up her mind and dove to the left. The ball hit her right in the stomach and she curled around it in agony. Everyone cheered – even my team – as Sky remained curled on the floor, groaning. I ran up to her and waved my hand in front of her eyes.

"Are you OK?" I whispered.

"I saved it." She whimpered joyfully and I smiled.

"Yeah, we saw." I pulled her up onto her feet.

"Did you help me?" she said, her eyes sharp, and I retreated back into myself.

"Now why would I do that?" I turned my back on her, giving her the cold shoulder.

_"Thank you very much, O Mighty one." _That was when I heard it. Sky's voce, projected into my head. My world lit up like a lightning storm – colours were brighter, stronger, more vivid. And I knew, with a soul-shaking certainty, that this was it. This was her. This tiny, secretive, lost girl was my one, my other half:

_My Soulfinder._


	7. Chapter 7: Telling Sky

I couldn't believe it. It was Sky. _Sky_. How could that be possible? She wasn't savant, was she? I didn't know that much about her, and lord knows she wouldn't tell me if she was. But she would have heard all my prompts as words – surely she knew what _I_ was. And she must knew what _we_ were – was she punishing me? Keeping herself from me as revenge for being so cruel to her? And is she was, why didn't she just use her powers to hurt me? Pain was far better than the torture she was putting me through. She must know what I was becoming – was she really _that_ cruel? No – I couldn't believe that. Sky was the kindest heart I had seen in all my years, she wouldn't intentionally hurt someone. But then again, I wasn't a person to her – I was a monster; and wasn't it my job to hurt monsters, to put them away and stop them from harming others? She must be doing the same – I could see no other reason for it.

I walked out the lab with Robbie. He seemed concerned about me – said I had been acting weird ever since the game. He thought I was worrying about losing my skills on the pitch – he knew nothing about me. I replied with vague answers like I had whenever anyone asked me any questions. Robbie walked away bemusedly when I heard a sugar-sweet, girly voice behind me.

"Hi, Zed," Zoe chirped happily, twirling her hair in her fingers. My eyes flickered to where Sky was hiding behind Tina. I seemed to have an extra sense to where she was. But I was still dismayed to see her trying to hide from me. I guess I deserved that.

"Oh, hi." I muttered, looking over the small group and resting my eyes on Sky again, just visibly between the wall and Tina. I waved Robbie away.

"I didn't get a chance to congratulate you, Sky. You made an awesome save." I continued, trying to decrease at least a little of the space between us.

_Damn – he's laughing at me._ She thought I was laughing at her? Maybe I had broken every connection between us, just because I was such a big jerk. But I wasn't that guy anymore – I would prove it.

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty unbelievable," she replied ironically, steel in her eyes. God, I loved it when she got fired up.

"I'm telling everyone you got lucky," _including my parents,_ I added silently. They suspected I was interfering and weren't happy about it. I reached forwards and adjusted the strap on her shoulder – an excuse to get closer to her. And marking her as mine to the other boys watching us. _Mine. _

"And I say I had a little help." She stared back, her jaw set stubbornly.

_What's his game? Had he really told me what to do? This is driving me mad! _Her internal voice ranted.

"you're rumbled, Zed: we all know you didn't bend the ball like you usually do." Tina jumped in, sending Sky a worried smile. I had forgotten she was there. I held my hands up in surrender – deflating the high-pressure conversation.

"I was just lulling Sky into a false sense of security. Next time I won't be so easy on her." Zoe hooted, finding the flirting in the conversation even as Tina and Sky wore identical scowls.

"No way. Zed Benedict, you built up this image of the meanest guy in the year and now we know you're a sucker for little blondes looking all dewy-eyed and defenceless." _Not just any dewy-eyed blonde_, I disagree internally, _just this one. Just Sky_.

"Zoe!" Sky protested sharply "Don't make me out to be dumb."

"Miss Congeniality shows her temper! I knew you had to have one somewhere." Zoe jabbed happily. I smiled – oh, I had been on the receiving end of her temper more than once. It was the only time I ever got an honest response from her, even if it did it an open wound.

"You'd be like that if you had to live with looking like I do. No one takes me seriously." Sky grumbled back. All three of us snorted.

"So I'm a joke, am I?" she challenged angrily.

"Sorry, Sky," Tina stopped her from storming off like a chick in a sitcom "It's just that you looked so fierce when you said that. . ."

"Yeah, really scary," Zoe agreed "Like Bambi with an Uzi."

"And, just so you're clear, none of us think you're dumb," said Tina "Do we?"

"Definitely not," Zoe chirped.

"But I have to agree with Zoe," I chimed in, trying to stop the grin that was dangerously close to forming on my face "You don't do mean as well as me." _Yeah, Zed, and that's something to be proud of. You're such a jerk_ "Maybe I should give you lessons. Be careful, won't you?" I brushed my hand over her arm and walked off reluctantly, the echo of her skin making me fingers tingle and by stomach flip. I heard Zoe and Tina giggle behind me and I fought off the temptation to look back. I couldn't hear Sky's laugh, but then again, I hadn't heard her laugh ever since she arrived. Was she sad, away from her country and friends? Wasn't she fitting into the school? She seemed to be fine, but what was on the inside? I was desperate to know everything I could about her, but there was no way she would tell any of us – she'd only been there for a month. She didn't know any of us well enough to disclose secrets – but maybe, if I played my cards right, I could be that person.

* * *

><p>I my baseball game, I felt distracted. My heart and stomach felt warm – I had come to recognise it as the feeling I got when Sky was near, and I was quickly becoming addicted – and my head seemed to look up at the bleachers instinctively, trying to get a glimpse of a blonde head, a small frame, a round face. But there were too many people and too far away – I could barely made out hair colours, let alone features. Then I got the message.<p>

* * *

><p><em>"Time to tone it down, Zed,"<em> came Xav's voice and my mind flitted back to the stadium around me, the noise coming in loud and fast. I started to blunt my throws and eventually passed the position over. For once, I didn't really mind – it gave me more chances to search for Sky, even though I knew it was hopeless.

I searched for Sky after school. She was nowhere to be seen. I saw Tina riding home with Zoe and Nelson, but Sky wasn't there. I looked to the shop and asked Leanne if she had seen Sky. She said she had just left, and she was alone. I ran off after her with a curse. I sprinted up the streets and finally caught sight of her – the lone, pale figure of a little girl walking up the street with a shopping bag in hand. As I ran faster to catch up with her, her figure stiffened and her hands tightened around her bags.

"Sky!" my hand landed on her shoulder and she flinched, swinging round, shopping bag at the ready. She swung it round without thinking and I caught it before it hit me.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" she cried, pressing her hand to her heart.

"Sorry. I thought I told you that you should take care walking home alone after dark." I huffed, getting my breath back.

"You mean some boy might jump out and give me the scare of my life?" she said shakily. My lips twitched in a smile.

"You never know. All kinds of odd people in the mountains."

"Well, you've certainly proved your point." I grinned at her words.

"Here, let me take that," I took the bag from her fingers – that was nice, right? Polite, gentlemanly, and they were all about manners in England "I'll walk you home."

_God, what is up with this guy – did he have a character transplant or something?_ "No need." She said, concentrating her thoughts.

"I want to." I disagreed.

"And you always get your way?"

"Nearly always." She met my words with silence and just carried on walking. I knew it was time, so just let the words spew from my mouth. I had to know.

"So when were you going to tell me you're a savant?" I tried to keep as much accusation from my words, but the hurt was still there, lurking underneath.

"A what?" Was she still trying to punish me? Wasn't I being nice to her now? I stopped her under a street light and turned up the collar of her jacket, protecting her from the cold.

"You must realise how amazing it is." I fixed my eyes on hers, trying to pass my excitement, my apology, everything, in one silent gaze.

"How amazing is what?" her eyebrows screwed together. She was confused.

_. . . can't understand his expression. What does he mean?_ Her mind echoed her expression: how could she not know? She was still punishing me. I laughed darkly.

"I see. You're punishing me for being a jackass. But you have to understand that I didn't know it was you. I thought I was warning some ditzy stranger to prevent her being knifed." She pushed my hand off her collar, where it had lingered.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"I had this premonition a few nights before we met at the Ghost Town – do you get them too?" what could she do? I wanted to know everything about her, every little detail.

"You running down the street in the dark – a knife – screams – blood. I had to warn you – just in case it would do any good."

_O-K. I thought I had problems but _he_ is seriously disturbed. I have to get away. _"Um. . . Zed, thanks for worrying about me but I'd better get back now."

"Yeah, as if that's going to happen. Sky, you're my soulfinder, my partner – you can't just walk away from me."

"I can't?"

"You must have felt it too. I knew as soon as you answered me – it was like, I don't know how to say this, like the fog lifting. I could really _see_ you." I ran a finger down her cheek lovingly, and she shivered "Do you know what the odds of us finding each other are?"

"Whoa. Go back a little. Soulfinder?" she backtracked.

"Yeah." I grinned and tugged her closer to me "No half life existence for us. It's taken me a few days to get over the shock and I've been waiting to speak to you so I can break the news to my folks." She put her hand on my chest and pushed me away.

"Zed, I've got no clue what you are talking about. But if you expect me to. . . to. . . I don't know what you expect, but it's not happening. You don't like me; I don't like you. Get over it." My jaw popped open. My soulfinder didn't like me. She didn't want me. She still thought I was that old guy, someone who slept around with random girls and didn't return phone calls.

"_Get over it?_ Savants wait all their lives to find the one and you think I can get over it?"

"Why not? I don't even know what a savant is!" she didn't know? What's wrong with her? I thumped my chest.

"I'm one." I poked her "You're one. Your gifts, Sky – they make you a savant. You must get that at least." She took a step back, eyeing me cautiously.

"Can I have the shopping bag, please?"

"What? That's it? We make the most astounding discovery of our lives and you're just going to go home?" she looked around, searching for someone else in the dark street.

"Um. . . yes. Looks like it." She replied.

"You can't!" I cried

"Just watch me." She yanked the bag from my fingers and ran the last few yards to her house.

"Sky, you can't ignore this!" I bellowed after her, my fists clenched "You're mine – you have to be."

"No. I. Don't." Then she slammed the door. I heard the lock click.

That went well.


	8. Chapter 8: Remeeting Sky

_Sorry i hardly ever comment on stories, but i never know what to say! hope you enjoyed the last 7 chapters, i'm updating quickly because i have nothing else to do and am really encouraged by the reviews, so keep them coming!_

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><p>Than night I didn't go to bed as usual. I stayed in my room, staring out the window in the direction of Sky's house. I wondered if she was doing the same and realised I probably didn't want to know the answer to that. It would just upset me.<p>

_Is this what you're going to do?_ Zed asked himself, _You're going to roll over and take it? No! Girls want to be fought for, and there's no way I'm going to let Sky slip from my grasp._

Before I knew it, I was standing outside Sky's bedroom window. I could feel that heat, that buzz that told me she was in there. I smiled at a conveniently place tree and pulled myself up it, placing myself on the branch closest to the window. I closed my eyes and concentrated – she was my soulfinder. She would sense that I was there. I opened my eyes and found myself face-to-face with a wide-eyed Sky, dressed in baggy PJ's.

"Sheesh!" she gasped, looking like she was on the verge of a heart attack, and threw open the window.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed "Get down, go away."

"Invite me in." I said, wiggling further along the branch.

"Stop – get down!" she flustered, getting herself into a panic.

"No, don't get your dad. I need to talk to you." I sensed the direction of her thoughts and backed off. She flapped her hands at me like she was shooing a dog.

"Go away! I don't want you here."

"I know." It was obvious I couldn't force my way in, so I relaxed back "Sky, why don't you know you're a savant?" I had come to this conclusion while I was pacing my room, running over our lamp-lit conversation in my head.

"I can't answer that when I don't understand the question." _I should slam the window in his face – it's like I've been drafted into Romeo and Juliet._

"You heard me speaking to you – in your head. You didn't just follow my hint, you heard words."

"I. . . I. . ." she stuttered.

_You answered me._ I sent the words to her head and she stared at me.

_He's doing it again – telepathy? No, no, projecting – this isn't happening._

"All savants can do it."

"I'm not hearing anything. I don't understand what you're talking about."

"I can see that and I have to know why." I sensed her confusion. She was trying to deny it and work out a way of getting em off her apple tree.

"I'm sure that's very fascinating but it's late and I want to sleep. So . . . um. . .goodnight, Zed. Let's talk about this some other time." _Like never_.

"You won't even give me a hearing?" I crossed my arms stubbornly.

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm your soulfinder."

"Stop that. I don't understand you. You're nothing to me. You're rude, cold, you don't even like me and have taken every opportunity to criticize me." That stung. I shoved my hands into my pockets.

"So that's what you think of me?" she nodded.

"Maybe this is, I dunno, your latest plot to humiliate me in some way – pretending you want me." Shame hit me hard on the chest – had I truly broken down every bridge to my soulfinder?

"You really don't like me, do you?" I laughed emptily "Great, my soulfinder doesn't understand the first thing about me." She folded her arms, but I could see her arms trembling – from cold or fear, I couldn't tell.

"What's there to understand? Jerks are pretty easy to read." Frustration spurred me towards her. She took a step back.

"Get out of my tree." She shakily pointed to the gate. I watched her face, took in the fear and anger in her eyes and nodded.

"OK. But this isn't over, Sky. We've got to talk."

"Get out."

"I'm going." Then I dropped to the ground, but I heard her sob in relief and slam the window shut. And for the rest of the night I could only dwell on how my one hope at salvation seemed to hate a fear me.

The next few days I made every effort to see Sky in school. At every turn I ran into her, and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. But just as made every effort to see Sky, she made every effort to avoid me, taking lifts home and even staying with Mrs Hoffman so she wouldn't be alone at home and risk me popping up. On Saturday, I gave up trying to give her space and turned up on her doorstep in the early morning, the biggest bunch of flowers the florist had in hand. When she opened the door, I thrust them in her bemused face before she could close the door.

"Let's start again," I held out my hand for her to shake "Hi, I'm Zed Benedict. And you are?" she struggled with the flowers and I sensed her delight in the colours – purple and blue, her favourite.

"Go on, this is the easy part," I encouraged "'I am Sky Bright and I'm from England.'" I copied her accent dramatically and she fought the urge to laugh – it was going well, for once.

"I do not speak like that."

"Sure you do. Go on." She rolled her eyes but complied.

"Hi, I'm Sky Bright. I'm from Richmond, England." She complied.

"Now you say 'Wow, what lovely flowers. How about coming in for a nice cup of tea?'" I did an impression of her again. Sky threw a look over her shoulder – checking for her parents.

"They're asleep. So?" I said and smiled encouragingly.

"Well, they are lovely flowers." She admitted and stepped back, freeing the doorway "Coffee?"

"If you insist." I smiled nervously and entered her house. _Sky's house_. It was one small step for savant kind, but a massive leap for Zed Benedict.

"Come through to the kitchen." She busied herself switching on the kettle and doing the classic thing women did when they got flowers – she found a vase for them and started cutting the ends off and arranging them "Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I messed up. I want to say sorry." She put the plant food into the water.

"These are a good start." Her thoughts were still ironic and disbelieving though. I started to juggle with something close to hand for something to do.

"How does this thing work?" it was the cafetière. She took it from me and showed me how to make the coffee.

"You're not very at home in a kitchen?" she inquired, and somehow I thought she was testing me with the question.

"Family of boys," I shrugged "We've a coffee maker – does great filter coffee."

"And she's called your mum." Sky snorted.

"No way." I laughed "She gets waited on hand and foot in our house."

_OK, I can do this,_ she thought, _a normal conversation about normal things. Good._ I took my mug and sat at the breakfast bar.

"So tell me something about yourself. I play drums and guitar. How about you?"

"Piano, sax and guitar." She replied casually. _We have something in common!_

"See, we can talk without me freaking out on you." I smiled.

"Yeah." She peeked at me "You. . . you like all music, or just jazz?"

"All, but I like the freedom to improvise." I patted the place next to me on the bench. She sat down, to my surprise "I like to cut free of what has to be. For me it's a kind of free fall with the notes as the parachute."

"I like that too." She agreed.

"It's musician's music," I continued eagerly "Not so straightforward as some but really repays when you get into it. I mean, you've got to be really confident to launch into an off-the-cuff solo and not make a fool of yourself. Everyone can make mistakes when they rush into something, go in too early."

"I suppose."

"You really didn't know." I couldn't help but bring it back. How could she possibly not know?

_Oh, God, he's going to raise that savant stuff again_. She groaned internally. I shook my head.

"And you've not the faintest idea why I warned you that day. You think I've been trying to scare you."

"Weren't you? All that stuff about knives and blood."

"I didn't mean it like that." I rubbed my thumb across her knuckles gently "It's funny sitting with you. I get so much from you, like you're broadcasting on all frequencies." She frowned. _Confusion. Annoyance. Fear. Confusion again. _

"What does that mean?" she frowned. I stretched my legs out.

"It's difficult to explain. I'm sorry I've been rude to you."

"Rude?" she spluttered "I just thought that you had some weird allergic reaction to economy-sized English girls."

"Is that what you are?" o looked over at her, peering closely into those eyes of hers.

"Um. . . yeah." She looked at her feet "Still waiting for that growth spurt Sally's been promising since I was fourteen."

"Your height's perfect. I come from a family of giant redwoods – a bonsai makes a pleasant change." I half-joked. She shyly let it pass, to my disappointment.

"So you're not going to explain what's been the problem with me?"

"Not today. I've messed it up once; I'm not going to risk spoiling it a second time. This is too important." I picked her hand up and punched myself with it. I knew she had wanted to do it anyway.

"There – I deserved that."

"You're crazy."

"Yep, that's me." I smiled at her and released her hand.

"OK, I'll head out now. I don't want to push my luck. It was good meeting you, Sky. See you around."

* * *

><p>It was awkward when I got home.<p>

"Where have you been?" Mum immediately dug into me in the kitchen, the whole family watching for my reply.

"Out," I replied – they had all noticed the change in me over the past few days "getting some fresh air, that's all. You needn't worry I was out robbing a band or something. I was just driving."

"Hmmm," Mum let it go, but I could see she was going to press me about it later.

"Don't bother, Mum." I stopped her "I'm not going into any more detail." The vision disappeared. That put her off.

"Any updates on Sky?" Dad asked casually. I froze, then put on an indifferent mask. He couldn't know already, could he? No – it was impossible. There was no way. But I still looked at him closely.

"Still safe. Haven't had any other visions other than the one when we were rafting and that was weeks ago.

"Good, well, keep an eye on her." He said lazily "We don't want any deaths here. Too much attention."

"And what about Sky?" I snapped before I realised what I was doing "How d'you think she would feel about being stabbed?"

"Calm down, Zed," Xav cautioned.

"Yeah, man, we're just as worried for Sky as we are for us." Yves agreed placating.

"More so," Dad corrected.

"Yeah – where are we gunna get another great pianist for the jazz band?" joked Yves with a smile. I fought back a growl – he didn't care about Sky, not like I did. No one loved her more than I did. Instead, I slammed my bowl of cereal down, making milk and cheerio's fly everywhere.

"Hey, Zed, what are you doing?" moaned Yves, who got the bulk of food on his sleeve, picking up his milk-soaked arm.

"Yeah, what's up with you, Zed?" protested Xav "I think I preferred it when you were moody."

"I'm staying upstairs," I frowned, striding to the stairs "no one disturb me."

"What was that about?" asked Yves to the kitchen when Zed was gone.

"I don't know," said Xav "but I think we should leave the topic of Sky alone for now, don't you?" his announcement was met with a kitchen full of rumbling agreements.


	9. Chapter 9: Talking to Sky

I was waiting for Sky by Tina's car. When I saw her, I smiled and waved in welcome. She stared while Tina gaped at me.

"Hi, Tina, hoe's it going?" I greeted politely. Tina looked at Sky with a quirked eyebrow.

"Fine, Zed. You?"

"Great. Sky, ready to go home?" I held out my spare motorbike helmet.

"Tina's giving me a lift." Objected Sky. She took 'playing hard to get' to a whole new level.

"I'm sure she won't mind if I do that. I want to make sure Sky gets home, OK, Tina?" I looked at her expectantly. She looked like it was totally not 'OK'.

"I said I'd take Sky home." She disagreed stubbornly. I had to give her points for loyalty.

"Please?" I held the helmet out to her hopefully.

_Zed Benedict saying 'please'. Icicles were forming in hell._ I got a flash of one of her many superhero fantasies, her riding out of school on the back of a bike. And there was longing there too. I had so won this one, even if it was only lucky that Sky had a cliqued sense of awesome.

"Sky?" Tina turned to Sky worriedly.

"it's OK. Thanks, Tina. I'll go with Zed." She took the helmet and I grinned in triumph.

"If you're sure," Tina pulled her hair back in an uncomfortable gesture. I felt Sky's doubt, but she ignored it. She wanted to fulfil her fantasy.

"See you tomorrow." She waved instead.

"Yeah," Tina said disbelievingly and walked off to her car. I led Sky to my bike, ignoring the stares we were attracting.

"I've never ridden one of these before." She admitted guiltily.

"The secret is to hold on tight." I whispered back with a grin. I sat on first and felt sky sitting close behind me, looping her arms round my waist and her legs brushing my hips. I felt a thrill and blushed in my helmet. Now I knew I was taking things too quickly. Then we were off, the wind ripping past our faces gracelessly. When I sped up on the hill, her grip tightened and I briefly touched her hand with mind. A reassuring touch, reminding her I was still here.

"Doing OK back there?" I yelled over the wind.

"Fine." She yelled back.

"Want to go a bit further? I can take you up into the mountains. There's about thirty minutes of light left."

"Maybe just a little way." Of course, that had been my plan all along, to take her to my secret hiding place, the place no one has ever been before. I wanted her to see it. Her house was a blur as we passed it. When we finally got there, I couldn't imagine a more perfect moment; the sun was bathing everything it touched in golden light, and made everything look in the midst of summer instead of deep winter. I helped Sky dismount. Patches for frost glittered on leaves and it crunched underfoot.

"So, Sky, how was your day?" she seemed bemused and mistrusting of my normal question.

"Fine. I did a little composing at lunchtime."

"I saw you at the piano."

"You didn't come in?" and there it was. That little sentence gave me hope. There was _hope_ for me. I laughed and held up my hands.

"I'm being careful. Very, very careful with you. You're a scary girl."

"Me?" she gasped disbelievingly.

"Think about it. You rip me up in the parking lot in front of my friends, save my best penalty kick, chuck me out of your apple tree – yeah, you're terrifying." I said logically, but with a smile.

"I like the sound of that." she smiled

_SuperSky_. I grinned.

_He hadn't guessed my thoughts, had he?_

"But what scares me the most is that there's so much riding on our relationship and you don't even know it." She huffed out a sigh.

"OK, Zed, try and explain it to me again. I'll listen this time." I nodded seriously. Where to start?

"I guess you don't know anything about savants?" I asked hopefully.

"I know more about soccer." I laughed at that.

"I'll just give you a little information now then, just to get us started. Let's sit here for a moment." I lifted her so she could sit on a fallen tree trunk and leaned beside it so our eyes were level. My eyes drifted over her dainty features; big eyes, soft lips, delicate cheekbones, cute little button nose.

"Sure you want to hear?" I checked "'Cause if I tell you, I've got to ask you to keep it a secret for the sake of the rest of my family."

"Who would I tell?" she sounded breathless with anticipation.

"I dunno. The _National Enquirer _maybe. Oprah. A congressional committee."

"Er, no, no, and definitely no." She laughed, counting them off on her fingers.

"OK then." I smiled and brushed a stray strand of hair off her forehead "Savants: I'm one. All my family are, but I've got a heavy dose being the seventh son. My mom's a seventh child too."

"And that makes it worse?"

"Yeah, there's a multiplier effect. Savants have this gift; it's like an extra shift in a car, makes us got a little but faster and further than normal people."

"Right. OK." I rubbed my hand on her knee and continued.

"It means we can talk telepathically to each other. With people who don't have the savant _gene_, they would feel an impression, an impulse, not hear the voice. That's what I thought would happen when I spoke to you on the soccer pitch. I was pretty surprised when you understood me – blown away, in fact."

"Because?"

"Because it meant you are a telepath too. And when a soulfinder speaks telepathically to her partner, it's like all the lights are coming on in a building. You lit me up like Vegas."

"I see." She still didn't believe me – she was fighting it. I rested my head against hers. She tried to go back, but I held her head to mine gently.

"No, you don't. There's more."

"I thought there might me." When my skin touched hers, she seemed to relax. Another good sign.

"When's your birthday?"

_What possible relevance did that have?_ "Um. . . first of March. Why?" That didn't make sense. I shook my head.

"That's not right."

"It's the day of my adoption."_ She's adopted!_ Suddenly, everything made sense.

"Ah, I see. That's why." I flicked my hands over her shoulder and then clasped her hands in mine, resting them on her lap. We sat in silence as I looked into her mind, searching for something. I saw dark things – her past. She was quickly aware of me.

"Yeah, that's me," I smiled "I'm just checking."

"No," she shook her head "I'm imagining this." I sighed a long sigh.

"I'm just checking my facts. I can't make a mistake about something like a soulfinder." I moved away, physically and mentally "I understand. You've come from a dark place, haven't you?" she was dumbstruck with my blunt words.

"You don't know who your biological parents are?"

"No." _He's finding out too much. Letting people close hurt – this had to stop._

"So you never knew that you had a gift."

"Well, that's because I don't. I'm ordinary. No extra shifts in here." She tapped her head.

"Not that you've found." I contradicted "But they're there. You see, Sky, when a savant is born, his or her counterpart also arrives about the same time somewhere on the earth. It could be next door, or maybe thousands of miles away." I linked my fingers with hers "You have half our gifts, I the other. Together we make a whole. Together we are much more powerful." Sky rolled her eyes.

"It sounds sweet, a nice fairy tale, but it can't possibly be true."

"Not sweet. Think about it: the chances of meeting your other half are tiny. Most of us are doomed to knowing there's something better out there abut we can't discover it. My parents are two of the lucky ones; they have each other thanks to a wise man of my dad's people with a gift for finding. None of my brothers have yet located their partner and each of them struggles with it. It's a killer, knowing that things could be so much _more_. That's why I rushed. I was a starving man facing a banquet."

"And if they never meet their soulfinder?"

"It can go many ways – despair, anger, acceptance." We both know which I had opted for "It gets worse as the years tick by. It hadn't really begun to worry me yet. I'm incredibly lucky to escape all that angst." And every second I spent with Sky I thanked what Gods there were that we were together. I was _not_ going to mess this up. I could feel Sky was still struggling with the notion, so reverted to her old standby: humour.

"Seems simple to me. Can't they run a savant match-making service on facebook or something? Problem solved." I smiled wryly.

"Like we haven't thought of that. But it's not about your birthday exactly, but when you were conceived – that gives a lot of variation nine months on. Think how many people were born on or around your birthday. Then factor in premature babies, the ones overdue. You'd be trawling though thousands. Savants are rare – there's only one in every ten thousand or so. And not every savant lives in a country like ours with computers at home. Or even speaks the same language."

"Yeah, I see that." _Sort of, if I'm going to buy this whole thing, which I'm not._ I took her chin in my hand, looking at her, thirstily drinking in her face. _My soulfinder_. I still couldn't believe it.

"But against the odds, I've discovered you. On a soccer pitch of all places. Sky Bright from Richmond, England."

_This is so strange_ "What does all this mean?"

"It means that's it for us. For life."

"Joking?" I shook my head "But I'm only here for, like, a year."

"Just a year?"

"That's the plan."

"And you do what then? Go back to England?" she shrugged. This was a problem – but I wasn't letting her go that easily. I'd make her see the truth, and then she'd fall just as much in love with me as I was with her, and then she's stay. Or I'd follow her to England. Hell, I'd run and swim all the way to England without any food or rest just to be with Sky.

"I don't know." She replied, and I could feel her uneasiness – she was finally feeling something "It depends on Sally and Simon. It's going to be hard because I'll have done a year here and the course is completely different back in the UK. I don't want to start all over again." _But I miss England_. The admission in her head was all I needed. I wouldn't keep her here – I'd follow her to Richmond, if that's what she wanted.

Now there was something I never thought I'd say.

"Then we'll find a way for you to stay. Or I'll follow you to England."

"You will?" she asked hopefully, aware that my fingers were once again tangled in hers.

"Hell, yeah. This is serious." I squeezed her fingers to back my words up "So she doesn't run for the hills."

"Meaning?" I lifted one of her hands and put it in my jacket pocket, keeping my fingers locked around hers as I leaned beside her, wishing I could just keep this feeling in my pocket and take it out when I needed it.

"I thought you might be a bit wary of me at first, until you got used to me. The nice me, not the jerk me." I said, remembering her former thoughts comparing Zed Benedict: 'Soulfinder' and Zed Benedict: Wolfman. Which to trust?

"Wary?" she said warily – oh, the irony.

"Wolfman, remember? You've got me down on the dark side; I saw that in your thoughts."

_He knows about Wolfman? Kill me now, why don't you?_

"No way, it's cute." She gave a strangled groan of humiliation and I chuckled.

_He's enjoying my embarrassment – that rat!_

"I know I can be a bit hard to talk to sometimes – like when we met at the ghost town. I'm going through. . ." I shook my head, trying to find the right words "it's tough right now. And sometimes, I just get, _overwhelmed_. Too much weighing on me." _My words know no lies._ Sky still wasn't sold on the soulfinder stuff, but she had to face the telepathy as true. This much, at least, she knew. Well, it was a start.

"You're not making this up? You do something, don't you?" she was thinking of my knowledge of what she was going to say before she was going to say it – she was sharp, this girl.

"I do a lot of things. I'd like to do some things with you, Sky, if you want to." _That's it, give her a choice – always give her a choice_ "I was wrong to rush in claiming you as my soulfinder – you need to arrive at the same place with me. After all, we've the rest of our lives to get this right." She swallowed. Hard.

_Tina had told you this would happen_, she chastised herself, _they'll tell you you're made for them. It's what all the evil guys did to lure in those poor saps in the stories, wasn't it? But Zed. . . he looks so. . . hopeful _"What kind of things?" I ran my free hand down her arm, clasping my other hand in hers.

"Go for a ride."

"We've just been doing that." and then she smiled shyly. My world exploded in joy and delight. She had smiled. Smiled! It was only a small smile, but it was enough to send my heart in my throat. What would it be like when she smiled properly? When she grinned? Did she have a toothy grin? A gentle grin? A slow grin or a fast grin? Did it make her face crinkle up? Did it bring out unseen dimples? And what about her laugh? Did it tinkle like bells? Ring and stall like a hyena? Was it a silent laughter or a loud, infectious giggle? Did she snort while she laughed? Had she ever laughed until her belly hurt and she couldn't breathe? Could _I_ make her laugh like that?

"Then we've ticked the first box already." I grinned "Next we might go out to the movies in Aspen, or risk the diner in Wrickenridge and have everyone stare at us all evening."

"The movies sound nice." That was another yes. Yes!

"With me?"

"I might risk it." She said, looking down "Once. But I still don't like you much." Her thoughts said different – she was coming round, slowly, but surely.

"Understood." I said instead, looking at her seriously, but I couldn't wipe the smile from my eyes.

"And this soulfinder stuff – I don't believe it. It leaves no room for choice, like some cosmic arranged marriage." She wrinkled her nose and I grimaced.

"We'll leave that aside for the moment then. One step. Go out with me?" I sensed her conflict. Which was real: Soulfinder Zed or Wolfman Zed?

"Ok," she finally gave in "I'll give you a chance." I lifted her fingers to my mouth and gave them a playful nip.

"Then it's a date." _A date with Sky – and it'd not even midnight._


	10. Chapter 10: Taking Sky Home

I could feel Sky's reluctance to believe me – her trepidation and her excitement. But that wasn't all I had to worry about just then.

"We're going," Mum said in that _this is final_ tone that all mothers acquired "and that. Is. That."

"But it's black tie!" Yves moaned, fingering his loose tie helplessly.

"But you're young, and pretty," mum reasoned with a smile "I'm sure you can get away with it."

"Mum," he groaned but she interrupted.

"Your brothers are doing it," she pointed out "and this is special; this is the opening of the Arts Centre. This is important to Sky's parents and Sky, and you're friends with Sky, right?"

"Yeah," he sounded like he was regretting it "OK, fine. Zed, get down here!" I was already half way down the stairs – smartly dressed in my suit; I was going to make Sky proud of me tonight.

"You looked very handsome," mum commented.

"Always the tone of surprise." I tutted "C'mon, let's go – I don't want to be late."

* * *

><p>My older brothers had decided to grace us with the presences. When we all walked into the Centre, all eyes turned to us, but I only had eyes for one girl – the bell of the ball. Sky. I caught sight of her and had to stop a gasp – she looked stunning. Her pale skin was brought out by the forget-me-not blue of her strapless dress, giving her shoulders a timeless elegance, and the skirt was just above the knee, giving tantalising flashes of thigh and leg. Her blonde hair ran in a cascade of princess-like curls down her back, pulled back from her pixie face by silver clips. She had just the right amount of make-up on, a highlight instead of a cover-up. She was perfect, an angel cursed to live among us mere mortals – and she deserved so much better. Well, lord know I'd do anything to be even half as good as she was. Zoe leaned over and whispered something in her ear and she looked over at me, spearing me with those blue, blue eyes of hers.<p>

_. .. looks like a team of superheroes, but the jury's still out on whether they are on the side of good or evil. There's Zed – God, he looks great in that black shirt and matching trousers._

_"Pants."_ I corrected with a mental image of my smile.

_"I don't want to know about those."_ She replied, but she was smiling. I raised a challenging eyebrow.

_"Don't you?" _I could see her blush from all the way across the room

_ "Get out of my head." _She was still in denial. _Baby steps, Zed, take her in baby steps_.

_"I can't cut it out now I've started. Has anyone told you that you could stop traffic in that dress?"_

_ "Is that good or bad?" This is mad – I'm replying to a disembodied voice._

_ "It's good. Very, very good." _I looked her up and down again, examining every inch of her, from her shoes to the flyaway hairs on her frizzy head. Oblivious to our silent conversation, Zoe giggled next to Sky.

"Oh my, Zed's looking at you as if he's going to eat you!" she squealed, making no attempt at keeping her voice down "Be still my beating heart!" Sky angled her shoulder at me – brushing me off – and tried to regain her calm.

"He's not." She said snottily, turning her nose up. Yep, Sky, who would have thought it, was playing hard to get, even if she didn't know it.

"It's not me he's looking at, more's the pity. Then again, that still leaves Trace, Uriel, Victor, Will, Xavier and my Yves to enjoy. Aren't they just –" she trailed off, looking for the right word. Sky whispered something in reply. Zoe gave a long-winded reply with lots of hand actions. Half way through, I gave up and started walking over. Zoe noticed me first and said something to Sky, pointing to me. She looked up and saw me approaching.

"Hi, Zoe, Sky." I greeted and grinned.

"Zed." Zoe waved at someone behind me "Everyone home?" _Unfortunately_, I thought darkly.

"We had a bit of family business. You both look great." It wouldn't do to ignore Sky's friend in front of her, and I had sworn to be polite. Gentlemanly.

"Thanks, Zed." She said, even though the compliment wasn't exactly meant for her "You don't look so bad yourself. I'm just gunna go catch up with Yves. See you." And she swaggered off, twirling her hair in her fingers. I stood in front of Sky, making our corner of a room full of people seem private and alone.

"Hi, there." I said in a low voice.

"I thought we'd said hello already." _Wow, this boy is sending out heat._

"I said hi to both you and Zoe before. That one was just for you."

"Oh." She looked like she wanted to laugh "Hi."

"I wasn't joking when I said you look amazing." I reached over and brushed a loose curl behind her ear "Where did all this come from?"

"I keep it tied back at school. It can be a nuisance."

"I like it like this." She looked like a fairy. It was cute.

"Well, you don't have to brush the tangles out each night." She snorted.

"I'm more than happy to volunteer."

"Oh." Her head whirled with thoughts and feelings all at once.

"Yeah, oh." I laughed and put my arms around her shoulders – partly as an excuse to touch her, partly to warn off the other staring boys in the room; a message that she is _mine_ "Shall we go mingle?"

"Do we have to?" she groaned.

"Yep. I want you to meet my Mum and Dad."

"Have you told them?" she sounded scared. She was still in denial, but I knew in her soul she could feel it was right, that _I_ was right – she just needed her mind to catch up with her heart.

"No, I want you to be happy with the idea when we let them know. They'll be unbearable when I break the news." I was dreading telling them, but it still couldn't put a damper on me for long – I had a _soulfinder! _Sky still didn't trust me, but I guess I deserved it – I just needed to earn her trust.

"What about your brothers? Can I meet them?"

"You can meet Yves as you know him already and the damage is done, but I want you to keep well away from the others." I warned. I had memories of them telling embarrassing stories of me to girls, friends, people I planned on spending time with, and they were still physically painful.

"Why? Wouldn't they like me?" she sounded like she understood and I rushed to reassure her.

"How can anyone not like you?" I stroked her arm gently "It's not that. It's just they they'll tell you all the most embarrassing stories about me and you'll never speak to me again."

"I don't think that's very likely." She brushed off and my heart inflated again.

"No, I don't think so either." I looked down at her and smiled tenderly; a new smile just for her. We paused my Keneally, who was on the piano, and joined in the applause as he finished his set. He frowned when he saw us together.

"Would you like to play, Sky?" he offered – trying to separate us.

"No thanks, sir. Not tonight." I tightened my grip on Sky's shoulder and thought back to my new oath – be polite, Zed!

"Would you like me to get you a drink, sir?" Keneally did a double take.

"That's very kind of you." He looked at us again "Glad to see she's a good influence on you."

"Early days yet," murmured Sky.

"I'll have a soda – a Coke."

"Be right back." I let go of Sky and went on a waiter-hunt. I could sense Sky's amusement at my efforts. Keneally started talking quickly to Sky – I could get the gist of it. But sky just kept on smiling and shaking her head. I returned as fast as I could.

"One Coke, sir. Ready to move on, Sky?"

"Yes. Bye, sir."Keneally shot Sky a worried smile.

"Thanks for the drink, Zed." As we walked away, I heard Mahler's Funeral March from behind us and smiled.

"Message for me?" I whispered to Sky.

"Or me. People can't work out why we're together."

"Can't work out why I've got the prettiest girl in the room with me? Then they've no imagination." I laughed when she blushed again and brushed my thumb over her cheek "You are the definition of sweet, you know that?"

"I hope that's a compliment."

"Meant to be. I knew it even when I gave you that warning – you know, about going out after dark. You listened, didn't you?" she nodded. I smiled and picked up a tendril of her, tickling her neck with it.

"I was full of resentment that I had to do it because of my vision – I'm still worried about that – but even then, it did filter through that you were kinda cute."

"You never showed it." I smiled wryly. Isn't that what I had been berating myself for ever since I had discovered who Sky really was?

"I do have an image to maintain, you know." I teased instead "I think I might have fallen for you that day in the parking lot. Nothing sexier than an angry woman."

"Cute and sexy? I'm not like that." she didn't believe me.

"Sure you are. If I'm a tuning fork, you're the perfect A, making me hum."

"Zed, ssh!" she hissed, her face red as a beetroot. I was getting her mind all jumbled again.

"What, you don't like compliments?"

"Of course I do – I just don't know what to do with them."

"You just say 'Why thank you, Zed – that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.'" I mimicked her accent again.

"Will you stop putting on that fake English accent – it so doesn't work!" I couldn't help but laugh at that, drawing eyes to us, and kissed her palm.

"You are just great." How's that for the understatement of the century? "You know, I can't understand why I was slow to realise what was going on with you."

_I can't talk about feelings yet – keep it practical, Sky _"These visions of yours – do they always come true?" I frowned at her change of subject.

"One way or another." I admitted "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. I'm gunna take very good care of you, Sky." Sky changed the subject again.

"You know, Tina doesn't think you're my type." She gestured to where Tina was chatting with Sally. She looked good, in an earthreal kind of way, but I didn't want long legs, green silk and dark hair; I wanted floaty blue chiffon, delicate limbs and hair the colour of the sun.

"Oh?" I said amusedly – let Tina try to come between us – she wouldn't succeed "And your type would be?"

"Tina's opinion or mine?"

"Yours." that was the most important one after all. Sky smiled at the floor then risked a peek at me. I almost felt the butterflies in her bally as my own. Or were they my own?

"Right now my type seems to be tall, arrogant, angry and secretly really kind." She said shyly. I grinned.

"Nope, nobody I know." Unfortunately, I also felt the need to keep this casual for now.

"Sky, isn't it?" dad interrupted – again pretending to forget Sky's name – "How are you?"

"Sky," mum smiled and patted Sky's wrist friendlily.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Benedict." Sky said politely.

"Our boy apologised to you yet for how he spoke to you at the river?" Sky glanced up at me.

"In his own way." Her eyes glittered.

"I see you understand him. I'm so pleased. It's difficult for him." Mum touched Sky's cheek briefly before her eyes went misty – we all knew that look too well "But you – you've seen things too – lived them, which is much worse. I'm so sorry." Suddenly, Sky's face went deathly pale and she froze, her eyes draining of all emotion but fear and shock.

"Mum," I warned "stop it. _You're scaring her."_ I added in her head, but she wouldn't listen.

"I can't help but see." She turned to me.

"Yes, you can." I growled threateningly.

"So much sadness so young." Sky had closed her eyes and was shaking her head slightly, her lips pale too. It scared me, to see her like this.

"Karla, Sky is here to enjoy herself." Dad lightly said and pulled mum away "Come visit us anytime, Sky. You'll always be welcome."

_Run,_ Sky's voice was yelling at her, _run away, you don't want to go there! Dark place! They're making me _see_ things again. I can't. NO!_

"Sorry about that." I tugged at my collar awkwardly "Shall we get some air?" I was desperate to get away from all these prying eyes and eavesdropping ears.

"She's like you." Sky began to shake "She was reading me – getting too much like you do."

"Hush now." I soothed, but inside I was panicking – what could make Sky, strong, happy Sky feel like this? "Don't think about it." I tried to shield her with my body.

"What am I? An open book or something?"

"It's not like that. It's not just you."

"I think I'd like to go home now."

"I'll drive you back."

"No, it's OK. I'll get Tina to take me." _I can't be around any of the Benedicts right now_.

"It's not OK. If you want to go, I'm the one who's going to take you. You're my responsibility now. I've got to keep you safe."

_Doesn't make me feel safe. I feel the opposite._ Sky started to back away "Just leave me alone, Please." And then, out of nowhere, Tina arrived.

"What's the matter, Sky?"

"I. . . I'm not feeling well." She stuttered. I stepped between them.

"I was just about to drive her home."

"I can take her." Tina said quickly.

"No need. She's with me. I'll look after her."

_He's angry with me. Angry that I want to run._

"Sky?" Tina appealed to Sky. She hugged her arms around her waist.

_It's easier not to argue. Just get home as fast as possible – you can deal with Zed for a few minutes _"Zed'll take me. I'll just go tell my parents." Simon and Sally agreed, but Simon looked me up and down coldly before letting us leave. The tenor of his thoughts would have been amusing in any other circumstance.

"Your dad does that well," I said, staring the ignition in the jeep.

"What?" she replied tiredly. Her head was leaning against the side window.

"Do the ball breaker thing. He was letting me know that if I put a finger on his little girl, I'm already dead." Sky gave a hiccupping laugh and I was relieved to hear the sound.

"Yeah, he does get a bit protective."_ A lot like Zed._ I let the thought go. She didn't need my telepathic nonsense now.

"Why do you call them by their first names?" I asked – I had been wondering it for awhile now.

"I've only been with them since I was ten. We all agreed we were more comfortable with first names. They felt they were too old to start as Mummy and Daddy."

"You agreed of they suggested?" I could tell I had hit the nail on the head.

"I was fine with it." Was all she replied. I let it go.

"My Mum – she does that to people. What can I say? Sorry?" what could I say? I would desperately love to apologise for my mum, but I loved her and I knew I would never really be that sorry – I wouldn't change her, she was my mum.

"Not your fault."

"I took you over to them. I should've headed her off. Don't let what she said worry you."

"It's just not. . . not nice thinking someone can sense stuff about you."

"You don't have to tell me – I live in the same house as her." I sighed.

"She can see stuff about you too?" I smiled. The similarity made her feel better.

"Oh yeah. Being a Benedict is no bed of roses." I slowed up at her house and stopped, taking in the empty house. Only the porch light was on. I relate Sky to this house – the outside light was on and was working properly, but the back lights and everything inside was still firmly turned off, leaving it deliberately cold and dark. Denied and disused. But I was willing to sit in the car outside for as long as it took for Sky to open the door and let me help to turn the lights on. I looked at Sky next to me. She was reluctant to be in a car alone with me, but didn't want to invite me in either – she was scared I would take it _that_ way.

"So we'll keep it in the car then. Just one small step," I whispered. It seemed wrong to talk at normal levels in this silent space. I leant in and rested my lips to hers, just a small kiss. I felt some barriers melt away with that one, tiny kiss, and I wondered what would happen if it were to last longer.

"Where's your Dad? Am I dead yet?"

"That wasn't a finger. You said my dad only thought about a finger." She said dreamily.

"True." I trailed my fingers down her shoulders, taking in the feeling of her silky skin "Sorry, I just had to do that. The dress should be outlawed."

"Hmm."_Zed Benedict is kissing me – how could this possibly be real?_

"Yeah, I really, really like you, Sky. But if I don't stop now, your dad _will_ kill me and that will be the end of a beautiful friendship." I stole one last kiss – for now – and forced myself away, jogging round to the passenger side to help Sky out the car "I'll just turn some lights on then head back to the party." _Without you. I'll be so bored, not to mention Tina bombarding me with questions_.

"Thanks, I don't like going into an empty house." She admitted.

"I know." I smiled and took out her key, opening the door and darting in to check the rooms. When I was sure, and even double sure, they were safe, I waited in the porch, jingling the keys. I felt reluctant to leave her, and I let it show on my face.

"I don't like leaving you alone. Promise not t go out?"

"I promise."

"Are you sure you'll be all right?"

"Yes. I'll be fine."

"And I'm sorry about Mum. If it's any comfort, her sister, Aunt Loretta, is worse."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hard to imagine, isn't it? Keep clear of our house at Thanksgiving – they're an unstoppable combination." I pulled her close and kissed the tip of her nose "Goodnight, Sky."

"Goodnight." She breathed. Leaving a hand on her cheek, I stepped back.

"Make sure you lock the door behind me." I stepped away, keeping my fingers on her cheek until the last second, and walked away, hearing the lock click behind me, and sat in the jeep, willing myself to drive back to the party where my family would be expecting me. In the end, I gave up and, sharpening my mind, I concentrated.

_"I'm staying with Sky at her house." _ I sent – my mind-voice was faint, but still audible – and sent an image of me sitting in the jeep outside the house.

_"OK, Zed,"_ my dad was the one to reply _"we'll make our own way home. Keep her safe."_ After tonight, my whole family knew my interest in Sky was more than protective now. I just hoped they didn't know _how_ much more it was. They didn't seem to know she was a savant, and if they did, but if they did they would be one step away from finding out about us. And I wasn't ready to tell them yet – and neither was Sky.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hope you enjoyed this one! Sorry it took so long to update, but i couldn't find time to finish this one! hope to have the next bit up soon, not too long until Sky meets the family!<em>**


	11. Chapter 11: Introducing Sky

"_Are you OK, Sky?"_ it was after school and I was sitting in my room, staring at the blue ceiling.

_"Zed? Where are you?"_ I caught in image of her looking out the window and seeing an empty street and an empty apple tree.

"At home. Do you want to come over?"

_"How did you. . . ? No wait: how are you talking like this, so far apart?"_

_ "We just can. Do you want to come?"_

_ Sit at home or brave Zed's family? _

_ "Mum's in Denver. Yves's at some Young Einstein of the Year convention. It's just me, Dad and Xav."_

_ "OK, I'll come over. You're up by the cable car, right?" _I got a mental image of the cable car.

_"No! I don't want you out alone – it's getting dark. I'll come get you."_

_ "I'm not afraid of the dark."_ She thought stubbornly.

_"I am. Humour me."_ And I cut off, not giving her a chance to reply. Ten minutes later, I cruised up to her front door. She ran towards me, still putting her jacket on, and jumped into the jeep, her face flushed from the short run.

"You must have broken every traffic law to get here so fast!" she huffed, but she looked pleased.

"I was already on the way when I called in." I shot her a smooth smile, hiding my lie easily. I had almost been in three crashes on the way here, but I didn't mind – all the sooner the sooner to be with Sky. Anyway, it was easier to lie in person than in your head.

"You think that's calling in?" I started driving off and back into town "You could use a cell phone like other people."

"The reception's bad out here – too many mountains."

"That's the only reason?"

"No." My lips twitched in a smile "It brings you, well, _closer_."

_I'll have to think about that one. _"Do you talk to anyone else this way?"

"My family. We've the lowest phone bills in the valley." Sky laughed. It tinkled sweetly, like everything else about her, and I found myself wanting to laugh too.

"Can you talk to your brothers in Denver?" she pointed out. I put my arm over the back of her seat. Brushing my fingers with her neck.

"Why all the questions?"

"Sorry to break it to you, Zed, but this is not exactly normal."

"It is for us." I turned into the road leading up to the house "I'm going to pull over."

"Why? What's the matter?"

"Nothing's wrong. I doubt if we'll have a chance to be alone when we arrive at the house so I just wanted to kiss you." Sky moved back a little.

"Zed, is this real? You wanting to be with me?" I unfastened her seatbelt for her.

"It most definitely is. You are everything I want. Everything I need." Oh, when will she hear the truth in my words?

"I still don't understand." I rested my head against hers, drinking in the scent of her.

"I know you don't." I said patiently "I'm trying to give you all the time you need, let you get to know me enough so you trust me, trust this." Who knew a few weeks of cold ignorance would come to this? Me begging for her trust while she mulled us over. I tried to hold onto my frustration, but I knew it couldn't. Not with Sky. She mattered too much for me to be angry at.

"And the kissing?" ah, she had me there. She could always find my weak points.

"I have to admit that's for me." I chuckled "I'm selfish that way." We got out and walked up to the house. Dad met us outside in his overalls and a tool box.

"There you are, Zed." Said dad, wiping his hands on a greasy rag "I saw you coming."

"Dad!" I hissed annoyedly. No bed of roses indeed.

"You know we can't control these things unless we concentrate. You forgot to shield. Sky, nice to see you again. I don't think we were properly introduced: I'm Saul Benedict." Xav chose that time to jog round the corner.

"Hi!" he grinned and waved.

"Not you too," I groaned.

"Why?"

"Dad _saw_ Sky and me."

"Innocent." He raised his hands in surrender "I wasn't anywhere near your mind, though I can guess what went on." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Don't go there," I warned growlingly.

"What does he mean, about being 'near your mind'?" interrupted Sky suspiciously. All three of us turned awkward.

"Were you _talking_ to him when we were driving?" she seemed pissed.

"Not exactly."

"She know about that?" dad said in a low voice – only Xav and I could hear the warning in it – "How come?" I shrugged.

"It just happened. You heard what Mum said about her – she's a bridge. It's hard not to step over."

"My son talk to you in your mind, Sky?" to me, dad said it in the same way a normal dad would say 'my son knock you up, Sky?'. It seemed too private and personal a question to ask.

"Um. . ." she sensed the privacy of the question too "maybe."

"You've not told anyone else?"

"Well, no. It sounds a bit screwy." Dad looked relieved.

"We'd prefer people not to know about it so I'd really appreciate it if you kept it to yourself."

"Fine by me."

"You don't have a problem with it?" he asked carefully.

"Yes," she looked at me with a smile in her eyes "but I'm more worried when Zed seems to know what I'm thinking before I do."

"Yes, we all feel that way around Zed. He never did buy the Santa-down-the-chimney story when he was small. But you learn to live with it." We entered the house. So far, well, not so good, but things could be worse I'm sure.

"Wow." Sky said when we got inside and saw the utility room, stacked with skiing gear.

"Yes, we are serious about our skiing, though Zed prefers board." Dad said with a fond smile.

"Public enemy number one," said Xav, pretending to shoot me.

"Boarders and skiers don't get on?"asked Sky confusedly.

"Not all the time," admitted dad "you ski?"

_Me? Ski? You must be joking!_

"You don't?" I asked, seeing the answer in her mind.

"England isn't exactly known for its powder snow." She tried to defend herself.

"Dad, we have an emergency. Intensive lessons starting from the first fall."

"You bet." Dad nodded seriously.

"I don't think I'll be very good at it." I looked at dad. He sent me a flash of Sky falling over allot, and I sent him one of a cold-looking Sky, tangled in ski gear.

"Yeah, right." Snorted Xav. Sky looked suspicious.

"What is it you're doing?"

"Just looking ahead, Sky." Said dad "Come into the kitchen. Karla's left pizza for us." Dad took charge, as usual when mum was gone, and set about making a salad, and, stupidly, put me in charge of the pizza, claiming even I couldn't ruin it.

"His problem is that he sees the pizza already burnt and can't be bothered to change things." Xav told Sky, sitting down and putting his legs up "How's this one going to be?" he called to me.

"This is going to be the best ever," I replied confidently, shoving the pizza in the oven. It was true; but that didn't mean the pizza will turn out _well_.

"So, Sky, how you finding school? Other students a pain in the butt, I bet?" Xav said while throwing a pretzel at me.

"It's OK. Bit different from what I'm used to." She admitted.

"Yeah, but Wrickenridge is way better than lots of high schools. Most kids go on to do what they want after."

"What about you? I was told you're good at slalom. Olympic standard good." Xav shrugged, but inside I winced. Xav wanted to be an Olympic athlete, but we all know it's probably not going to happen.

"Could be – but I don't think I'll take it that far."

"Is it because you can see yourself failing and can't be bothered to change it?" Sky shot back.

"Ouch!" whooped Xav "hey, Zed, your girl has a mean streak. Getting back at me for ribbing you about your cooking."

"Good for her." I nodded at Sky approvingly "Don't listen to any of his bull, Sky. I can cook."

"Yeah, like Sky can ski." I looked to the fruit bowl and zoomed in on a lemon sitting serenely on the edges. With a little force, I had it hurtling across the room and hitting Xav in the nose. Sky jumped.

"What the – !" Sky shrieked like a pigeon had flown into the window.

"Zed!" warned dad "We've a guest."

"You've got, like, a poltergeist or something?" she sounded half-hopeful.

"Yeah, or something." Xav rubbed his nose and looked daggers at me.

"Is anyone going to explain that?"

"Not me. What were we talking about before I was so rudely interrupted by a flying citrus?" he threw the lemon back at me before I stopped it in mid-air and let it drop gracefully back into the fruit bowl "Butt-head."

"Um. . . we were talking about skiing." I could feel Sky's eyes on my but I just whistled innocently and wiped down the surfaces.

"Oh yeah. Well, I don't think I'll go the professional skier route. Got too much else I want to do with my life."

"I can imagine." She sounded sceptical, but I felt that she let it slide. Everyone in the room recognised the excuse for what it was.

"I'm stopping as Colorado junior champion and retiring undefeated."

"And never lets us forget it." I drawled. We both mentally reached for the lemon and, because of the energy dragging it from side to side, it exploded in a splatter of citrus.

"Boys!" dad yelled and rapped on the counter or attention.

"Sorry," we both dutifully intoned. Xav got up to clean the mess.

"No explanation, right?" _These Benedicts confuse me, but boy are they funny_.

"Nope, not from me." Xav chuckled, waving the rag at me "He's going to tell you. Later." He made a sudden dash for the oven "Sheesh, Zed, you've let it burn! I thought you said this was going thought you said this was going to be the best yet." He dumped the blackened pizza on the side.

"It is. Only singed. I'm improving." I sniffed the pizza. Xav was making mountains out of mole hills – again. Xav hit me round the head with the oven gloves.

"What's the use of being a know-it-all when you can't even cook a pizza?"

"I ask myself that every day," I mock-sighed and started cutting the pizza.

* * *

><p>After dinner, I caught Sky and tugged her outside, telling her we were going for a walk in the woods.<p>

"Xav's got clear-up duty as I cooked so we're free," I told her, taking her hand in mine as she zipped up her jacket.

"Cooked? Is that what you did?" she laughed.

"Ok. Charred." I led her out the back door "Up or down?" I asked, gesturing to the ski slope.

_Best get the worst over with_ "Up first."

"Good choice. I've a favourite place I want to show you." We took the slope slowly, winding around trees in silence.

"Snow doesn't stay lower down till around Thanksgiving." I said as we walked down. I resisted from tabbing in on Sky's thoughts, but I got the tenor. Fondness. Interest. Curiosity. But, there it was, lurking in the background. Doubt. Too many contradictions, one person saying one thing and another saying the opposite. Which was to be trusted?

"I shouldn't thought," Sky grumbled, kicking the snow off her flimsy valley shoes.

"My sight isn't much help for practical stuff like that – sorry. Shoulda told you to bring boots."

_He's a strange boy sometimes_. "So, what powers do you think you have, aside from the telepathy thing?"

"Various, but mainly I can see the future." I paused at a beautiful spot where the snow was perfect and undisturbed "Wanna make an angel?"

"You go ahead. Don't let me stop you."

"Come on – I know you're going to." I teased, waving my arms and legs to make an angel-shape.

"Because you can see?" was that a challenge in her voice?

"No, because I'm gunna do this." I sat up quickly and dragged her down beside me before she could react. She sighed and made a perfect little angel, the stars of the night shining in her big, bright eyes. This was a perfect place, full of perfect, beautiful things.

"So what can you see?" she asked, not looking at me.

"Not everything and not all the time. I can't 'see' my family's future, or only rarely. We're too close – there's too much interference, too many variables."

"Do they do the same thing?"

"Only Mum, thankfully," I sat up, brushing now from my elbows "The rest have other gifts."

"You've seen my future? The premonition?" I rubbed a hand over my face. I didn't want to think of that, not then, not in all this peace.

"Maybe. But if I tell you exactly what I saw, I might change or be the reason it happens – I can't know for sure. My sight gets more precise the closer I am to an event. I only know with any certainty something is going to happen a second or two before it does. Yet it can go really wrong. That's what happened in the raft – by interfering I helped cause what I was trying to stop."

"So you won't tell me if I'm going to be a good skier?" I shook my head and tapped her forehead.

"No, not even that."

"Good, I think I'd prefer not to know." The trees rustled and shadows deepened, but I couldn't bear to leave yet – it was too soft and simple here. I couldn't go back to my world of secrets and powers yet.

"What's it like?" she whispered "How can you bear knowing so much?" _if I can know so little about my past, about myself, how can he know so much about the future?_ I got up and pulled Sky to her feet.

"Most days, it's a curse. I know what people are going to say – how the film will end – what the score's going to be. My brother's don't really understand, or don't want to think, what it's like. We've all got our own gifts to handle." I could feel Sky's sympathy, but I didn't want to hear it. I had heard it all before. What I didn't expect was the understanding that emanated from her in thick, warm waves.

"This is all too weird." I slung my arm round her, tugging her closer to me.

"Yeah, I get that. But I need you to understand. You see, Sky, it's like, I dunno, I suppose a bit like being in a lift with a muzak. It's playing away in the background but you don't notice until you pay attention. From time to time, I get a sudden trumpet burst of things. Scenes play out. I don't always know the people or understand what they mean. But until later anyway. I may try and stop things but they usually happen in a way I didn't anticipate. I try and block it out – I can for a time – but once I forget it comes back."

"You bloody cheater!" Sky cried after a pause and elbowed me in the ribs "No wonder you are unbeatable when you pitch or kick goals!"

"Yeah, it does have that added benefit." I smirked at her, more than willing to point out the obvious "Helped you out, didn't it?" the triumph in her eyes faded.

"Oh."

"Yeah, _oh_. I sacrificed my perfect goal scoring record for you."

"Hardly – you scored, like, twenty or something." She snorted.

"No, really. What are people gunna remember about that match? That I scored loads or you saved that one? I'm never gunna live it down." I sighed hard-sufferingly and shook my head in shame.

"Idiot." She hit me round the head, laughing. I laughed with her – how could I not? A Bambi look-alike had just hit me round the head.

"That's done it. I'll have to distract you before you hit me a second time." I leant forwards to kiss her, but a flash in my mind sent me lunging, knocking Sky over backwards. The tree behind us splintered from the bullet that had been aimed at Sky's head. Too close – why didn't I see it? I dragged Sky behind a fallen tree trunk, sheltering her with my body, and swore.

"This isn't supposed to be happening!" I hissed

"Get off me!" she yelped in panic "What was that?" she struggled to get away.

"Stay down." I warned and swore again "Someone took a shot at us. I'm getting Dad and Xav." I sent my mind away, searching for the pinpoints of light that were dad and Xav.

_"Dad, Xav!" _ I yelled at them as loud as I could, and immediately had their attention _"Someone's shooting at Sky and me – we're in the small clearing near to bottom of the slope."_ I sent them a mental image of us, cowering in the trunk, and our surroundings.

_"We're right there – stay sheltered, and keep Sky safe."_ Dad punched back and was gone. Crack! A second shot hit the trunk not far from our heads.

"We've got to move!" I slid off Sky "Roll out the other side of the trunk and run for the big pine over there."

"Why don't we just shout to tell them that they're shooting at humans?" she suggested, but the quaver in her voice told me she already knew my answer.

"He's not hunting animals, Sky: he's after us. Go!" she wriggled under the trunk, scrambled to her feet and ran. I raced after her. We were almost there when the third shot went off. I could see where it was headed and tacked Sky to the ground, but my elbow accidentally hitting her eye as we crashed to the ground.

_"We're almost there – hang in there."_ Came Xav's voice in my head, and I saw them near our clearing.

"Damn. Sorry," I whispered "Saw that one almost too late again."

_"Better stunned than dead."_ She replied

_"Yeah. But I'm still sorry. Just stay still. Dad and Xav are hunting our hunter now."_

_ "I think there's more than one."_

"What?" I peeked up to look at her face "How do you know?"

"I don't know. I just feel them there." No point in questioning a savant's instinct.

_"Dad – Sky says she thinks there's two of them. She says she feels it."_

_ "Gotcha, Zed."_

_"Dad? Be careful. These guys don't look the type to take prisoners." _

_ "Will do, Zed. I'm more worried about you and Sky right now."_

_ "We're fine – just get here fast, and don't rule out the possibility of a trap."_

"I've told them to be careful." I told Sky, still sheltering her with my body – if one of us had to be shot, I'd rather it was me "It could be a trap to lure him out. We've got to get back to the house. There's a stream just over that ridge. If we get there, we can stay hidden and circle back. OK?"

"OK." She said, and anyone else voice believe it was the cold that was making her voice shake "How do we get to it?" she swallowed hard and looked at the ridge, measuring how far it was with her eyes, but her ears were ready to hear my plan.

"You're amazing, Sky." I smiled grimly, wishing she wouldn't have to be amazing while a gun was trained on our heads "Most people would have lost it by now. We crawl – make like lizards. I'll go first." Here it was – the ultimate test of trust. I slithered out and dropped over the ridge, praying that Sky was as brave as she looked. I heard a scuffle overhead and Sky dropped down, rolled, and stopped beside me.

_"This way."_ I told her and wriggled off, hearing her shuffle behind me.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Dun dun duuhhhh! cliff-hanger! what will happen next? well, we all know what happens, but how will Zed take it? stay tun for more. . . .<em>**


	12. Chapter 12: Dating Sky

I kept low, leading Sky down alongside the shallow stream that led to the Eyrie. I could hear Sky stumbling behind me and could only hope she was OK – there was no time to help her now. Unless:

_"Hold onto my jacket – almost there."_ I told her, my eyes focused on our target. The stream got deeper, allowing us to clamber out the gully, emerging in a grassy slope right in front of the house.

"Sense anything?" I asked urgently.

"No. You?" she huffed back.

"I can't see anything. Let's make a run for the house." I squeezed her arm reassuringly "On three. One – two – three!" I shot out into the open, tearing the door open and running in. It swung shut after Sky entered and I locked it with my mind. We were safe. For now.

"Your dad and Xav OK?" she panted. I reached my mind out wordlessly.

_"Dad? Xav? We're at the house – are you OK?" _ I punched out.

_"We're fine – Sky was right, there were two, but we lost them; took off out of town in a black SUV: identical to any other. Stay at the house." _Dad replied, and I felt Xav in the background, agreeing.

"They're fine," I relayed to Sky "but they lost the hunters. You were right: there were two of them. They took off out of town in an unmarked SUV. Black, dark windows. Hundreds of cars like it in the mountains. Dad says to stay here till he gets back. Let's look at that eye." I had just noticed the rapidly-purpling bruise under her eye. I led her to the downstairs bathroom – she seemed too shell-shocked to object – and sat her on the edge of the bath. My fingers shook as I reached for the First Aid box – I had come so close to losing her. My Soulfinder. Hell, she wasn't just my Soulfinder anymore – she was _Sky_. What would I have done if I had been too late, if the bullet had hit her? The answer came to my mind unbidden. I would turn around, hunt her killer down, and kill him. Slowly and painfully. That's what I would do. Rage burned in my eyes and made my body shake as I tried to open the little green box. A hand landed in my arm.

"It's OK." Said Sky gently, looking at me with those eyes of hers. Those eyes that looked straight into my soul.

"It's not OK." I ripped a pack of cotton wool balls open, shooting fluffy balls all over the bathroom "We're supposed to be safe here." I was still shaking.

"Why wouldn't you be safe? What's going on, Zed? You seem not really surprised that someone wanted to shoot you." I gave a hollow laugh.

"It does make a kind of horrible sense, Sky." I rinsed a flannel out and gently placed it against her eye. I sensed Sky's relief at the cold warding off the pain, even if it was only a little bit "Hold that there." I told her and started to clean her cuts with the cotton wool I had littered everywhere "I realise you want to know why that might be, but it's better for you and us if you don't." I told her the truth – it wasn't my fault my words spiked her annoyance and curiosity.

"And I'm supposed to be OK with that? I go for a walk with you, and get shot at, and I'm not supposed to wonder why? I can live with exploding lemons and the rest of it, but this is different. You almost died." I was tempted to point out that she had almost died as well, but on second thought, considered it best not to. I wouldn't be helping myself all that much, or my family. So instead, I pushed the cloth she had dropped back against her cheek and smiled slightly. Somehow, it didn't quite ring true.

"I know you're mad at me." I said needlessly.

"I'm not mad at you! I'm mad at the people who just tried to kill us! Have you told the police?" she shouted hysterically.

"Yeah, Dad's handling it. They'll be along. They'll probably want to talk to you." I pulled the cloth away to reveal a dark circle around her eye - I whistled when I saw it "How's this for a first date: I've given you a black eye." She jumped in shock.

"This was a date? You asked me here on, like, a date and I missed it?"

"Yeah, well, not many boys take their girls out on a duck shoot with them as the target for a first date. You have to give me points for style." I said lightly.

_I haven't even got past first base yet_ "This was a date?" she repeated, letting it sink in.

"It was a date." I pulled her against me chest, signing when she wrapped her arms around me "I was trying to get you used to me, kinda in my natural habitat. But I can do better, I promise." I reassured quickly.

"What? Gladiatorial combat next?"

"Now there's an idea." I pushed my face into her hair, digging through the blonde curls with my nose "Thanks for keeping a cool head out there."

"Thanks for bringing us through."

"Zed?" a call interrupted our little moment "Sky? Are you alright?" it was dad, shouting from the hallway. I could see him imagining all sorts of non-existent injuries for us, for Sky – I guess all dads are alike.

"In here, Dad. I'm fine. Sky's a bit roughed up, but she's OK." Dad hovered in the doorway, an anguished expression on his face.

"What happened? Didn't you see the danger, Zed?" I knew he wasn't blaming me, but I was still pissed.

"Yeah, obviously I saw." I replied sarcastically "I thought "Let's take my girlfriend out for a walk and try and get her killed". Of course, I didn't see – no more than you sensed it."

"Sorry, stupid question." He admitted "Vick's on his way. I've called your mom and Yves back. Trace will be here as soon as possible."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know. The two Kelleys were sent down on Tuesday. It could be payback. But they shouldn't know where to find us." Sky peeked through a crack in my arms to see dad.

"Who are the Kelleys?" she asked. That was when dad got a good look at Sky for the first time."

"Sky, you're hurt!" he exclaimed "Xav, get in here." I could tell Sky was starting to feel claustrophobic in the small bathroom filled with so many people.

"I'm fine." She brushed off in classic Sky style "I just want some answers." Xav skidded round the corner, and his healer instincts took over.

"She's not fine. Her face feels like it's on fire." I turned sharp eyes on Sky. She opened her mouth to protest, but Xav shut her down.

"Don't bother, Sky, I can feel what you're feeling. An echo of it." Xav reached out and rested his fingertips on the bruise, barely touching it, and concentrated.

"What are you doing?" asked Sky in wonder.

"Trying to stop you looking like a panda tomorrow." He replied evasively, removing his finger "It's my gift." Sky touched her face cautiously.

"You'll still have a bit of a bruise. I haven't had time to get rid of it all. Pain's quick, bruises take more time to clear up – at least another fifteen minutes or so." He explained.

"We'd better get Sky home. The further from this mess she is, the better." Dad waved us out the bathroom and we dutifully shuffled out.

"Won't the police want to take her statement?" I asked, handing Sky some dry socks to replace her snow-drowned ones.

"Vick's sorting it out. He doesn't think we should involve the local cops; he'll get his people on to it. If he wants to talk to her, he can go to her and do so."

"And his people are?" pressed Sky, still determinedly on her quest for answers.

"The FBI." Replied dad bluntly.

"That's like the CIA – spies and stuff?" all I could think was how _English_ Sky was. Typical.

"No, not really. The Federal Bureau of Investigation deals with crimes that cross state boundaries. The big felonies. They're plain clothes. Agents rather than cops." Sky undid her dishevelled hair and pulled it back into a ponytail – I remembered what she had said about brushing it each night and thought she would be suffering tonight.

"Zoe always says Victor is a man of mystery." She commented dryly. Dad flicked his eyes to me uncomfortably. I didn't need to read his mind to know what he meant: _she's learning too much._

"But the less that's known about his other life, the better, understood?"

"Another Benedict family secret?"

"They do seem to be piling up, don't they?" dad threw the keys to the bike at me "Take Sky home on the bike – but don't go direct. We don't want you leading anyone to her."

"You could take me to my parents' studio and they could run me back." She suggested helpfully.

"Good thinking. Zed, give my apologies to Mr and Mrs Bright for not taking proper care of their daughter."

"What do I tell them about it all?" I asked, leading Sky out the house by the elbow. Dad rubbed the back of his neck in a gesture I had come to associate with stress.

"I'll get Victor to explain. He'll know what and how much to say. For now, tell them it was some idiot running wild in the woods. Ask them to keep a lid on it until the authorities have had a chance to deal with it. Is that OK with you, Sky?"

She nodded.

"Good. You did great." Then, unexpectedly, he kissed the top of Sky's head and crushed me in a hug which a gladly returned – it had been a tough day for all of us, and it was only going to get worse – "Thank God we've only got one black eye to show for it. And thank you, Sky, for being so patient with us." I felt Sky mount the motorbike behind me, her arms wrapping around my waist tightly like it was the only thing keeping her alive. She was still scared – so was I.

"I'm going to take us by some back roads that skirt round Wrickenridge to your side of town." I warned her lowly "Just in case." I wasn't prepared to take any risks, not with Sky or my family. I was starting to consider them the same thing, but in different ways. Very different ways.

We started going, and I wove expertly around the dirt tracks, feeling Sky's hands cling to my jacket. It was reassuring – it meant she was here, and safe. The thing that I feared most hung in my mind like a shadow; the loud crack of a gunshot, and Sky's hands relaxing, the weight and warmth of her falling from behind me. The though made me tremble – I wasn't sure what with. But it was bad. I heard Sky try and go to her storyboarding. Trying to see everything through the pages of a comic. But the images faltered and faded after a short while; the situation was too strong, too real for her to distance. She was one of the main characters, and that was too close for comfort. She felt groggy and filthy by the time I pulled up to the Arts Centre.

"Can you do what Xavier does?" she said, pulling her helmet off and pinching her nose. Her head was pounding again.

"No, but I can buy you something for it at the drug store." I replied half-hopefully – anything to make her feel better. This wasn't her fault, and there was no reason for her to get involved.

"It's OK." She said quietly. I blew out a breath, steadying myself for the torrent that was going to come.

"Come on; let's face the music from your dad."

"Can you see how bad it's going to be?" she begged weakly.

"Trying not to." I knew it was going to be just as bad as I saw it was when Sky's parents saw her face – her black eye. Then Sky told them that we had been shot at, Mrs Bright looked like she was going to faint and Mr Bright looked like he was going to strange. . . well, strangle _me_. Like _I_ was the one who tried to kill their daughter. I tried my very best to spare Sky punishment, but her dad's protectiveness, cleverly masked as anger, defeated me easily. Sky walked away with a two week grounding.


	13. Chapter 13: Our Little Bubble

_Hey, sorry i never comment on these things, but i never think of anything to say - but now i have! i just wanted to thank all those reviewers and alert-ers, all words have been so very helpful in keeping me writing. Some good chapters coming up, so stay tune for more, my apologies for any typos or spelling mistakes, and keep reviewing! _

_Thank you_

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><p><em>"Zed<em>._"_

The mind-voice, now so familiar, rang in my mind, and I turned instinctively to see her running round the other side of campus, her hair flying back from her face. It had been two days since the shooting, and I had been away from Sky every second of it, not even catching glimpse or mind-whisper of her. I had already started to feel her loss keenly. Before I could even form a reply, Yves and Victor grabbed my arms and pulled me along, taking me under cover.

_"I'll find you later,"_ I promised before disappearing. I felt her disappointment and wanting. _Sky_ wanted _me_. She wants me. . . . she wants me. . . . she wants me. . . .

The rest of the day, I followed Sky in my mind. She was worrying, always worrying, but not about herself. Not even about me, not really. She was worrying about _us_. What if he doesn't feel as strongly as I do? He keeps on ignoring my mind-messages. What if he was using me? I found her in the library and sat down opposite her, just looking at her. She looked tired. Had she slept badly, or even at all, since our date-gone-wrong?

_"Sky, I'm sorry." _I finally said. This conversation was too intimate, too delicate for normal, boring, restricting speech.

_"Hey, another benefit of this mind-talking stuff – not only do you have low phone bills but you don't get chucked out of the library."_ She examined a book intensely, not looking at me. That was a harsh punishment, keeping those perfect, deep eyes from me. But I deserved it.

_"You mad at me?"_

_ "No."_ She still didn't look at me.

_ "So why the cold shoulder?"_ At this she glanced up, just a flick of the eyelashes, but it was enough. I saw everything that she had been feeling over the last two days rush into her eyes when she saw me, and it was enough to make me want to cry.

_"Your eye hurt?"_

_"No, your brother fixed that; he just left me looking like a dork."_

_"I couldn't come in until the area had been searched."_

_ "I guessed something like that was going on."_ She sniffed and rubbed her nose.

_"I couldn't text you because there's no network at home. I'm sorry." _I repeated, looking at her earnestly. My neck burned with the lie.

_"No, don't apologise. I understand."_ At that very second, Sky looked like an angel. I wanted to hug her and kiss her; my arms ached for it and my lips tingled in hopeful anticipation. But I would have to be disappointed. I had to tell her how much I cared for her; how hard it had been for me to stay away; how much I loved her.

_"Do you really? Do you really understand how difficult it's been for me? I wanted to be with you – stay with you that day. You argued with your dad, didn't you?"_ apparently, it wasn't enough that I almost had Sky killed; I had to split up her family too. I didn't know you could be bad at being a soulfinder, but it seemed I was living evidence.

_"Yeah, but we're OK now."_ She sniffed again.

_"You're upset that I wasn't there to take the heat about your eye. People have been giving you a hard time."_

_ "Not hard, just awkward. Nelson's after you."_

_ "I deserve it."_

_ "You were saving my life."_

_ "You should never have been in danger in the first place. I should never have put you at risk. Look, can we go somewhere so we can talk properly?"_ I didn't like this public place, where people could see us. We needed privacy.

_"I don't think that's a good idea."_ I pulled the book from her hands. She let it go easily, without a word in protest. I glanced at the page.

_"Penguins, such fascinating creatures, but I didn't know you were studying them. What class is that you're taking?"_

_ "The 'we stupid looking creatures should stick together' class."_

"Come with me." I said aloud, putting the book back on its home shelf.

"Where?" she asked simply, standing.

"Music practice rooms. I booked one out, just in case." I slung my arm over her shoulder, glaring at Sheena and her 'gang', who stared at us and smirked smugly. They quickly looked elsewhere when I looked at them. When we reached the room, I checked it was empty then tugged her inside, shutting the door and pinning her against it.

"That's better." I leant against her body, feeling her heartbeat race "Just let me hold you a moment. I've not had a chance to touch you since those killers went for us." I held her tightly, slightly desperately, against me, breathing in her clear scent, feeling her soft hair "Sky, I couldn't bear it of something happened to you," I whispered, twiddling her hair in my fingers.

"Why? Is something going to happen? Have you seen something?"

"I told you, I can't tell people too much about the future. I might change it to be what none of us want if I do that."

"So I take it mine doesn't look good?"

"Sky, please, I don't know. Don't you think I'd act if I knew what would help? All I know is I want you to be safe."

_Jeez, this is driving me crazy. Being a savant must really stink._

"Yeah, it does." I agreed.

"You're doing it again; reading my mind!" she cried "Stop it. It's mine – private." She crossed her arms and slid away, leaving me cold.

"I seem to be always apologising to you, but I really am sorry." I said helplessly "I can read you more clearly that I can other people – it kind of leaks out of you in my head."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" she yelled hysterically.

"No, it's an explanation." I tried to calm her down "You could learn to build shields, you know."

"What?"

"Basic savant training. Living in a family of them, you soon learn to start shielding."

"But I'm not a savant."

"You are. And I think deep down you know it too." She fisted her hands in her hair and shook her head.

"Stop it. I don't want to hear this." _You're bad. Bad. Always making everyone unhappy._ She was scared, incredibly scared "No I'm not!" she wasn't talking to me anymore. She was talking to her memories. I pulled her fists from her head and pulled her towards me.

"Sky." I held her close to me, stroking her hair "You're beautiful. The furthest thing from bad I've ever met."

"What do you see – what do you know about where I came from?" she asked in a small voice that made me want to wrap her in my arms and protect her from this harsh, cruel world "You've given hints. You know stuff about me that I don't." I sighed a deep sigh.

"Nothing clear." I admitted "Telling the past is more Uriel's gift than mine." Sky laughed – the laugh shook and died in her throat before it had even come out properly.

"Don't take this the wrong way but I hope I don't meet him." I swayed her in my arms for awhile, like rocking a baby to sleep, or slow-dancing.

"You want to know why I didn't call you?" I finally broke the silence. She nodded against my chest "I couldn't. We were on lockdown. I've got some more bad news." Lately it seemed that all I told Sky was bad news.

"What? Worse than two maniac being out to murder your family? I needed to know that you were all right. I needed to know _you_ were all right."

"Victor put us on code red. It means we can't communicate outside the immediate family."

_Where does that put me in his order of priorities? He said I was his soulfinder after all. _

"We don't know who might be listening to our calls. I should've found a way to get a message to you but I was afraid to use telepathy."

"Why?"

"That's the bad news. We think they've got a savant on the assassin team. They shouldn't have been able to get so close to us. Dad's gift is to sense danger. He should have known they were out there unless they were shielded by a powerful savant. You can listen in on telepathy just as you can with speech if you have the gift. I didn't want anything I did to tip the off about you."

"So it's not just your family who can do telepathy?"

"No, there are a number of us we know about – and I guess many that we don't." I conceded, tilting my head to one side "You can turn a gift to evil as easily as to use it for good. The temptation is there, particularly for those who don't have the balance of a soulfinder." I rubbed my chin against her head, just checking she was still there, still real, and not just a figment of my twisted imagination – I still wasn't used to the idea, and I'm not sure if I ever will be – I hope I won't "You're my balance, Sky. I was already slipping before I met you." I suddenly realised in a rare moment of clarity "I can't tell you what it means to me that you saved me from that grey existence." And it was true. The whole world would soon get grey and dull without Sky there to add colour and emotion, to turn everything into fun, multi-coloured comic strips instead of boringly uniform charcoal portraits.

"You were slipping?" she asked quietly. It suddenly seemed like we were inside a little bubble, so fragile yet so solid I could almost see it wrapped around us like wrapping paper around a Christmas present, keeping everything else out.

"Yeah, big time. I'm not a nice person without you. It was becoming pretty tempting to use my gift to get my way, no matter how unfair or what the cost to other people was." I grimaced – no matter how much I didn't want Sky to know about that side of me – _Wolfman_ – she had already had a glimpse of it, and it had almost ruined us, scared her away. I owed it to her to explain myself – she had to know the truth "You've given me enough hope now to hold on until you're ready to unlock your gift. Once that's done, there's no chance I'll ever turn to what I was."

"But you're not safe yet?" I could hear the panic in her voice and in her head "What should I do?"

"Nothing." I shook my head "You need time. I'm more worried about getting this right for you than I am about me."

"But I worry about you."

I smiled grimly. Typical Sky, worrying about other people when _she_ was the one that needed the protection, _she_ was the one that needed worrying over.

"Thanks, but let's give you the space you need and deal with what we have to so we can keep you safe."

_Savant assassins – is this really happening? The bullets had felt genuine enough – I didn't doubt them_ "You think this savant has turned bad?"

"Yeah, he was working with the shooter. He might still be listening in – we just don't know. Telepathy over a distance is harder to channel to just the right person. We haven't come up against this before. We should have anticipated this." I was frustrated that I didn't have all the answers for her – in fact, she probably had more questions than I had answers.

"What should you have done? You've only just got dragged in to this through the witness thing. When the trial's over, won't the threat pass?" I could tell she was trying to make me feel better, but it just made me feel worse; it was another secret I was keeping from her.

"Not exactly." I mumbled guiltily.

"Not exactly!"

"We aren't just witnesses – we're investigators." I confessed "It's not just the latest trial – my family have combined their gifts to put away hundreds over the years. It's what we do." I shrugged helplessly.

"So that means you have more enemies?"

"If they knew we were behind their conviction – but they are not supposed to find out. Our information is used to steer the authorities to find evidence that will hold up in court. Our place isn't on the witness stand but behind the scenes." Her face was blank for awhile, then the news seemed to dawn on her slowly, but surely.

"How do you do it?" she gasped.

"We work together – we see what happened."

"You see it?" she spluttered "See all that awful stuff – the killings – the crimes?"

"If we ignored what happened, that'd be worse." I replied earnestly "We'd share part of the guilt if we didn't act to stop crimes when we can."

"But you suffer for it, don't you?" she pressed. I shrugged.

"What's the compared to the good we can do?" I asked honestly. There was a long pause, then she closed her eyes and leaned close to me.

"I'm scared, Zed."

"I don't think there's any threat to you as long as we aren't seen together out of school. I haven't even told my family about you. The only way I can think to protect you is by keeping my distance. If the rogue knew you were my soulfinder, it would put you in the centre of the target." I grimaced. It wasn't worth thinking about – it would never happen.

"That's not what I meant. I'm scared you're going to get hurt." She whispered, and if I didn't know her I would've said it was a small child saying those words, not my brave, strong Sky.

"We've got it under control now." I hushed.

"But you're going to have to keep hiding, aren't you?"

"I don't want to think about that."

"Can I help?" she asked hopefully "Is there some way I can make this easier for you?"

"It would mean you releasing your gift and, as I said, I don't think that would be a good idea yet." I said, shaking my head.

"Releasing my gift? What does that mean? You savants speak in riddles." She groaned, pushing away from me, frustrated. Yep, definitely more questions than answers. But I laughed anyway at her tone.

"Us savants, you mean." I corrected "And if your gift were free, then you'd light up like I do when you're with me." Suddenly, she nestled closer to me, running her fingers along my chest. Her fingers left searing lines of fire behind, but the good kind of burning, like when you stick your hands in the snow and then warm them up next to the fire really quickly. My heart started to beat faster – I hoped she didn't notice.

"I already feel pretty sparkly." She smiled, but it was a half-smile. I kissed her hair tenderly.

"That's good – but you'd better stop doing that or we'll both be in trouble." I caught her hand in mine, twisting our fingers together and pressing them to my chest.

"Zed, is this all real?"

"Yeah, it is. Your gift's just waiting for you to reach it."

"I'm afraid to do that." I rested my chin on the top of her head, looking sightlessly at the music practice room. And suddenly, our little bubble burst with an understated pop and we were back in the real world, back in danger and secrets. I felt something deflate inside of me.

"I know." I sighed "And I can wait – as long as you need. Come, sit on my lap for a moment." I led her over to the drum stool, sitting on it.

"You want me to sit on your lap there?" she teased, pointing sceptically "I'll fall off."

"Not if you sit facing me." I said with a sly grin. She laughed, but it sounded a little bit sad. I ignored it.

"This is crazy." I wasn't too sure if she was talking about us or her sitting on my lap.

"Maybe." I reasoned, then my grin widened "But I'm going to enjoy it." She shrugged to herself and settled over my lap, her hands wrapped around me and her head rested on my chest.

"You hold on now, you hear?" I told her.

"Uh-duh." I took the drum sticks and started playing the percussion to our first song together. Sky hummed along – I wasn't sure if I heard it or felt it, but I knew she was humming.

"We could really do with the piano but I don't want you to move," I murmured softly.

"We can imagine it." She supplied helpfully. Then she closed her eyes, listening to the music in her head, while I started singing 'Hallelujah'. After awhile of silence from her, I stopped.

"You just gunna sit there or sing with me?" I hinted.

"I'm just gunna sit."

"What's wrong with your voice?"

"I don't sing. Never have – not for a long time." She buried her face in my chest a little further.

"There's only me here. I won't laugh." I pushed gently.

"I'll just listen." She repeated, only this time I heard the fragility in her voice, the same fragility it had whenever the subject went anywhere near her past.

"OK." I let it go, knowing she needed her time and space on some things "But I'll get you singing get." I wasn't sure if I mean it as a symbol for our current times or her overcoming her fear of her past, and therefore her voice, but I sure as hell knew that this promise I wasn't going to break easily.


	14. Chapter 14: Fighting for Sky

_I'm sorry for not uploading for awhile, i really have not excuse! I have also realized that my fics are ridden with typos and misspellings, so please excuse the shoddy work and just enjoy! i know allot of you have been waiting for the chapter so here it is!_

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><p>The next few weeks were the worst of my life. It was impossible to be with Sky at any time because we couldn't be seen together and be labelled as a couple. And there was my vision about Sky's stabbing – it was killing me not to be at her side every second, to protect her. I could feel her stress, her fear whenever she went out in the dark, or whenever she was left alone. I found myself just checking in on her, mentally, when I was at home. Just to make sure she was OK. And rumors were flying at school – there were only so many reasons we would stop going out so suddenly. Did I really hit her? Did she break it off because I did? And then there was the other thing; another obvious reason why a guy would suddenly lose interest in a girl when he was so determined before. I didn't even want to think about it – it made me too angry.<p>

And then there was Nelson. I was getting changed after basketball practice, thinking about Sky, of course, when he stormed in, steam spilling from his nose and ears.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he boomed, without caring who heard. His eyes were trained on me. I gave him my full attention – Sky had warned me about this.

"I don't know who _you_ think you are, but I'm in the basketball team and getting changed. Goodbye."

"Did you hit her?" he asked in a deadly low voice, and I froze, straightened, and looked him in the eye "Did you hit her, really? What, she didn't want to roll over and submit to the Zed Benedict show?"

"I didn't hit her." I said quietly, not breaking eye contact "She fell."

"I'm supposed to believe that?" he laughed harshly. I saw his fists clench by his sides "A girl like Sky, she doesn't just fall onto a fist and get a black eye. What really happened?"

"I told you. She fell. What's the point of me telling the truth of you're not going to listen. Ask Sky – she'll tell you the same thing. And Sky isn't the type of gal to lie."

He had looked like he was going to punch me for some time, but was aware of the whole basketball team rallying around. So he just backed away and walked off. I know he was just looking out for Sky – I could have done the same thing – but he really pissed me off.

It was the night of Halloween that I had a brain wave. Everyone was dressing up, right? Well, tonight I could be with Sky – I just had to wear a mask.

"Xav!" I hunted around the house until I found him in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled good "Xav, I need a really big favor."

"No." He replied before I even finished my sentence.

"Please, just listen to me –"

"No."

"I need to see Sky!" I hissed "Please, Xav. I've been good for _two months_! No one has seen me with her – I've been so careful, all the time." I begged "I just need a costume and a cover. That's all. And you know me; you know Sky – kinda – and you know I'll keep under the radar. _Please_." He looked at me for awhile then nodded.

"I've got a costume in my room. Don't ask why, just take it and go." He smiled slightly "Before I change my mind."

I caught up with the group near Tina's house, slipping into the mass of people unnoticed. Sky looked – strange. She was dressed in a skin-tight black full-body leotard, with gloves and black shoes, with every inch of it painted like a skeleton with pinpoint precision. Her face was covered with a mask painted like a skull, but I knew it was her from the way she walked, light and un-attention seeking. I slipped up to her quickly, bending down, and growled in her ear. She jumped and looked up at me.

"Zed?" she yelped in confusion.

"Ssh. I don't want people to know I'm here. And don't, you know, _think_ to me, in case someone's listening."

"Ah, Wolfman, you are a master of disguise, fooling the bad guys with your cunning." She giggled, and I could sense how glad she was that I was here.

"I blend, don't I? I knew you'd be out after dark, so here I am." I knew she was thinking about her would-be stabber, in the dark and surrounded by strangers and masked people, and hoped my words would reassure her. I wound my hand – er, paw – around her waist and tugged her closer.

"I'm not sure I approve of this costume of yours." I told her strictly "Couldn't you put a cloak on or something?" the leotard, though it no skin was allowed to peek out, was revealing in a different way and left very little to the imagination.

"I feel really cold." She admitted "Simon didn't think of this when he made it for me." I handed her my coat and slipped it over her shoulders, almost choking with laughter at her words.

"You _dad_ made this? Are we talking about the same guy who wants to lock you away until you're thirty? Has he had a personality chance since I last saw him?"

"He's artistic." She explained in a slightly embarrassed voice "He wasn't thinking about how his daughter looks – he was just getting the right shape. He and Sally are at home in identical outfits." I chuckled. I could totally see that.

"So, did you tell your parents you were going out?" she asked.

"No, they still think we need to circle the wagons back home. I'm tinkering with the bike in the garage. Xav's covering for me." _Thank you!_ I sent out a silent thanks to him – not mind-speak, just a feeling of goodwill to the world in general. For the first time in weeks, things were looking up.

"How are they going to react?"

"I can't see – it's hard with family." I said, frowning "There are so many possibilities in a house of savants that I think the future gets fuzzy, like interference on a cellphone. And it's weird: I've noticed that the closer I get to you, the less I see about you."

"Does that mean I could beat you at cards now?" she challenged.

"Probably. But I might not be able to help out with you goal-keeping either, so there's a drawback."

"That's fine by me." she countered with a head shake "It's not nice knowing you see so much all the time. Makes me feel, I dunno, _caged_ by the future."

"Yeah, I prefer it this way." I agreed "Feels more normal." We had just reached Tina's house, but I didn't want the walk to end. When the walk ended, we would go back to ignoring each other, Sky trying not to notice how close I was when we passed each other in the corridor, or me trying not to notice the way her pale hair flew around her delicate face when she ran in PE or when the wind blew a curl over her forehead. The house was covered with Halloween-themes objects – pumpkins hollowed and carved out into growling faces, lit from inside by lanterns, fake bats, snakes and spiders hanging from everything Tina could attach it to. I could dimly see Tina's Mum answer the door dressed as a witch, long eyelashes and a floor-length black dress with belled sleeves and glittering spider webs around the skirt.

"Let's go in and stay for a while, then slip away," I advised hopefully "I really want to be alone with you for an hour or so. It's killing me having to steal all these moments at school, always worrying someone's going to walk in on us."

"OK, but I can't bail out too early."

"I'll keep away from you in there." I said, trying to hide my displeasure at being so close to her, but so far away "If anyone recognises me beneath the costume, they won't think anything of it. Tina did invite me." Sky nodded, but her lips pouted slightly and I couldn't help but feel slightly better that she was as unhappy with our situation as I was. We followed the flow of people to the kitchen, where Tina's mum had arranged Halloween-themed snacks; there was a cauldron filled with popcorn and people feeding their blindfolded partners green jelly. I moved away from Sky, but kept an eye on her as she removed her mask, revealing frizzy hair and pink cheeks, and went to join the jelly game, drawing Nelson as her partner. I hung in the background, keeping my costume on even though it was stiflingly hot, and watched as Nelson spilled jelly down Sky's chin and nose on Tina's instructions.

"Yuck. I'm going to need a shower now!" I heard Sky squeal as a gloop of jelly fell onto her neck and slid down under the neck of her costume, and she wriggled to try and catch it before it fell too far.

"Apple bobbing!" roared Tina in response, grinning like a maniac "That should help." At the apple bobbing, Sky only got herself wet and came up with no apples to show for her effort, but she was laughing just like everyone else. I wished I could laugh with her instead of watching like a stalker in the shadows. No one had approached me yet, or even recognised me; a few people had glanced my way, but I was positioned so that it looked like I was waiting for my turn at a game, so no one looked too hard. It was ten thirty when Sky started making her excuses to Tina, who laughed and waved before hauling a very wet, very stunned Nelson to the dance floor. I was waiting for her on the porch.

"Ready?" I asked hopefully. I had been bored all night, and desperate to get Sky alone with me; safe with me.

"Uh-huh. Where are we going?" her eyes shone in the darkness, bluer and more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. _My Soulfinder_.

"Let's head up to your place." I suggested "There's a coffee bar on Main Street that should be open."

"Is that safe?" she asked tentatively as we started walking slowly.

"Should be. We'll go to one of the booths at the back. As much as I appreciate the value of blending, I don't want to sit with this mask on all night." Sky held out her skull mask, making an odd face at it.

"Should I put this back on?" she asked "I feel really stupid wearing it."

"You might want to think that people can see who's wearing the skeleton suit even if you don't."

"Good point." She slipped the mask on, then laughed, the sound muffled "This is our second date, right?"

"See, I told you I'd come up with something better." I twisted our fingers together, thick furry hands meeting thin skeleton-bones; it felt like something from a sci-fi romance book, and I couldn't help but chuckle. We didn't talk until we reached the coffee bar, enjoying the comfortable silence that can only come from two soulfinders. I understood that she didn't want to talk; she understood that I didn't want to talk. So we just walked together, as if in a dream, in our own little bubble where the delighted screams from trick-or-treaters and parties were muffled and lazy, and the feel of Sky's hand in mine felt more real than the whole of the world.

"What'll you have?" I asked as soon as the back booth become free and Sky had settled into the comfy bench.

"Hot chocolate with all the trimmings." She said immediately, rubbing her hands on her arms to warm them up. With the hot drink in her hands, she seemed happier and she sipped on it regularly, hissing at the heat but still carrying on. I did the same with my black coffee, glancing sceptically at her.

"You don't know what you're missing." She sighed, sucking at her teeth to prolong a patch of melted marshmallow and syrup.

"I think I'm probably getting as much pleasure watching you." I smiled, then sipped my coffee "I know it's a cheap date – sorry about that." I felt the need to apologise, but somehow I didn't think Sky was _that_ kind of girl.

"Yeah, you know me: I'm sitting here calculating how much you spent." She laughed sarcastically "Next time I'm expecting caviar at a five star restaurant." She sipped her hot chocolate again with a contented smile. Suddenly, I felt like all the hours, all the days I had spent apart from her, watching from afar and wishing I could have one minute with her in which I didn't have to worry about savants or my family or other students running in on us – all of that didn't matter. Because I was here with her, now, and she was happy and healthy and that was all that mattered. I sighed; if only a ludicrously decorated hot chocolate and two stupid costumes could fix things every time.

"I can stretch to a burger at a dine if you're hungry." I said instead, knowing she wasn't ready for serious talks yet, and certainly not at this time of night.

"Don't be daft." She snorted, eyes focused on a chocolate-sprinkled half-melted marshmallow that looked particularly tempting "My treat next time." A glance – a mere flick of the eyelashes – up at me "Let's keep this equal." I stroked her hand and, in response, felt the cascade of tingles that shuddered down her spine as if they were my own – or maybe they were? It was becoming so hard to separate her thoughts from mine, her emotions and impulses from mine.

"I don't mind splitting the bill," I said seriously "but I kinda prefer buying for my date. I don't think I'd like it if you paid for me." I admitted.

Sky laughed "You grew up with cave men, right?"

"You've met my dad and my brothers." I offered in way of excuse "I rest my case." We stood, me paying for the date, and started walking down the streets. There were far less people this time – I hadn't realized how long we had spent in the coffee bar. _Time flies. . . _

I glanced over at Sky. She was staring at the sky, eyes locked on the eerie, snow-capped mountains, the star strewn sky, twinkling as if in welcome.

"Makes me feel very small," she said, so quietly I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear, her eyes not moving from the very tip of the tallest mountain.

"I hate to break it to you, Sky, but you are small." I said quietly back, and laughed when she turned and hit me weakly in the stomach, and feigned injury dramatically.

"Look, I was having a moment here – one of those 'Isn't the universe mind-blowing?' things." She moaned, but a smile played at her lips "Have some respect." I grinned in response.

"It's a challenge when you're wearing a bone suit. Do you realize you're shining in the moonlight? I've never had a date do that before."

"And just who have you dated, Mr Benedict? Tina says your family don't go out with girls from Wrickenridge." She teased back.

"That's true. You're the exception. I dated a few – from Aspen mostly." I squeezed her waist briefly "How about you?" I said, trying to hide my curiosity with playfulness. Did she have a boyfriend in England? Did she have a special someone? _Do I have competition?_ Sky was blushing next to me – was that a good or bad sign? Girl could blush for many reasons.

_Why did I start this conversation?_ "My friends back home did set me up with a boy once. It was a disaster. He was so in love with himself, it wasn't true." I hid my relief in another question:

"So he wanted you for arm candy?"

"What?"

"For image."

"I suppose. Only went out twice before I got fed up. So you see my experience is pretty limited."

"Can't say I'm sorry to hear that." I admitted, then changed the subject "Did you enjoy the party?"

"The games were silly but fun." She said decisively, as if she had thought over and planned her answer in advance.

"I hoped you'd mention them." I said, remembering the jelly Nelson had dropped down her neck "I was particularly intrigued by what happened to that jelly." I leaned forwards and nuzzled her neck with my nose "Hmm. Yep, you definitely didn't get it all off."

"Zed!" she protested, but I could feel her delight, her happiness, and hear her playful laughter.

"Ssh! I'm busy here." I hunted down every last bit of jelly before we had to turn onto her road. As we did, two boys with axes ran from the mist, yelling and covered in blood. I didn't think, didn't hesitate; I just saw it all, all from my vision – the blood, the yelling: the knives. One yelled something, but it didn't register; all of my internal alarms were going off. As one of the boys started running towards Sky, as if in slow motion, his bag of candy split, scattering sweets all over the pavement, the brightly-coloured wrappers falling steadily, hitting the floor with the sound of booming drums. The knife plunged towards Sky and I heard Sky scream. I snapped; before I knew it, I had grabbed the boy's wrist and twisted it so that the knife clattered t the floor, then jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground and wrenching his arms behind his back, immobilising him. Sky was still screaming something, but I couldn't make it out as the second boy jumped on top of me, his fist flying into my jaw. Suddenly, all three of us were rolling in a ball of fake blood and sticky sweets, fists flying and swearing echoing down the streets. Sky carried on screaming, but I was too focused on her would-be-murderers to pay attention to her. _You will not kill Sky, you will not kill Sky, you will not kill Sky. . . _

Another voice joined the yelling, this time calling for the Police, and Sky carried on yelling from a distance. Simon's voice joined in and suddenly strong hands were pulling us apart, first the smaller one, then the police pulling me and the final axe man apart. I looked around, and suddenly everything was normal again. Blue and red sirens flashed, tears streaked Sky's face, her eyes wide, her arms clutching at Simon's arm. She was terrified; and her fear had spurred me on.

I thought she was in danger. I thought. . .

"Who's gunna tell me what this is all about?" sighed the policeman. As the policeman escorted me into the car, I caught a thought from Sky.

_Great. Date number two ends in the police station_.

I had the sudden feeling that I had let her down in more ways than one.


	15. Chapter 15: With Sky

_Here it is! double-upload, you guys need to get me cookies or something! the next ones 'll be coming allot faster now that we're getting down to the good stuff!_

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><p>Sky and I were kept apart by the police until we had both given our sides of the story. As I waited, I tried to tune in to Sky's thoughts. I didn't like what I heard; her dad was giving her a hard time, and it had a strange effect on her thoughts, bringing back dark memories I couldn't make out properly. A small, blonde girl, no older than six. A flower; a daisy? Too many conflicting images, and I was forced to retreat. It was obvious Sky wasn't interested in talking to em or anyone just then.<p>

I was in the waiting area when Sky arrived, and her eyes latched on to me immediately without needing to search the room. Her lips started to smile reassuringly before an officer hurried her away. I caught her fleeting wish that she had been able to change from her costume and smiled to myself. That's my Sky.

"Zed, I try to do one thing for you!" Xav seethed as he barreled through the door, the rest of my family quickly following "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't –" I started, but Xav interrupted.

"No, you didn't think, did you? You just saw and acted. Jeez, Zed! _You keep getting into fights and we'll never stay under cover._" The last was in mind-speech, but we all heard it loud and clear.

"Let me speak!" I said calmly, then looked each one of them in the eye "It happened. The vision." Xav's anger evaporated just in time for my dad to enter.

"Zed." He said "I cannot believe _my son_ would start a brawl in the street – do you have any idea what kind of trouble you're in? And sneaking out! It's like I don't even know you anymore. . ." the lecture continued and I saw Sky walk in from the interview. Behind her, an officer clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. I was thankful for the pause in the lecture, but knew that as soon as I got home and in the privacy of our home, the play button would be pressed again. I smiled slightly to myself – but it was so worth it. For Sky.

"All right, all right, people, let's move this along." The officer was saying, his voice easily carrying to the smallest corners of the waiting area "I want a word with Zed, then you can all go." I followed the officer into his office where he promptly started asking questions, confirming motives – I wasn't really listening, answering with just a 'yes' or 'no'; how could I do this to Sky? How could I have let it happen? It was a fake knife, for Christ's sake! And Sky – who would want to hang around with a boyfriend who was so overprotective he started street fights over a squeal and some fake blood? Sky would be ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated. I had to apologise.

"Look, Zed, I know you were just protecting your girl." The officer finally said, and his tone made me look up and pay attention "We have this kind of thing every now and again, but just relax, OK? No one's out to get your girlfriend." _Not that you know_, I thought sourly "You can go." He dismissed me with a wave of the hand, lazy and I control. I thanked him (only _slightly_ patronizingly) and left. Sky and I were kept separate when we left, and surrounded by our respective families – mine more substantial than hers – acting as guards. I had the feeling they weren't to protect us, but to act as another barrier separating us. _As if there aren't enough_.

_. . . like the exchange of hostile prisoners in an old war film_. Sky's thoughts bled through, and I couldn't help myself. Not being able to talk for the last hour and a half, and probably not being able to talk in the foreseeable future, broke my self-control.

_"I feel like I've been suckerpunched." _I sent to her, not caring about the risk of being overheard _"I can't leave without saying sorry. Again."_ I added, frowning.

_"What happened?"_

_ "I lost it, flipped out – all thanks to my freaking gift._" I shook my head to myself _"I'd seen what was going to happen, you see, months back. Saw you being attacked with a knife. I hadn't realized it was fake."_

_ "But that's good, isn't it? The threat wasn't real." _Sky thought optimistically.

_"Yeah, but you've just swapped my imagined threat for a real one of assassins. Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of the Benedict family."_ I though sourly, then noticed dad looking at me _"I'd better stop talking. Dad's giving me these weird looks."_

_ "Zed?"_

_ "Yeah?"_

_ "Take care."_

_ "You too. Love you._" I quickly tuned out and dad looked ahead again. Had I said too much? I knew what Sky was like around Love. I could still feel her shock, her scepticism, and, deep down, her fear.

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><p>At school, the gossip mill was turning at full speed; the story of my fight and police warning had flown ahead of us by hours, and there was no way to deny it. Well, that could work out to our advantage; I didn't have to hid anymore. So, relishing in the feeling, I caught Sky in the corridor and tugged her into an empty classroom; I saw several eyes following us at least. The first thing I did was wrap my arms around her; as long as she was with me, she was safe. It was a rare feeling nowadays, of Sky being safe.<p>

"Are you OK?"

"Fine." Uh-oh; I knew that 'fine'. It was a woman 'fine' – translation: I've never felt so crap in my entire life. So I decided to tease it out of her. And to make her smile.

"I've been hearing about this drop-dead gorgeous skeleton from everyone. Seem she had to report to a police station with some idiot who took on a couple of sophomores."

"What did your parents say?" Sky said quietly, and I replied with a hollow, humourless laugh.

"You really want to know?" I repeated "I'm going to have to work off my debt for Ben's teeth with extra chores and go round to apologise. I've had to swear not to sneak out with you again. They make me feel about nine years old. You?" after all, Sky was really all I cared about; the extra chores would be nothing if she was OK.

"It was OK. Simon blames you." She said matter-of-factly, which, for some reason, sounded inexplicably funny.

"Great." I grunted, fighting off the giggles I knew Sky wouldn't appreciate.

_. . . did he mean it? When he said he loved me, did he mean it? Should I ask?_ A feeling of nervous fear coming from Sky, _No, don't ask._

"Yeah, I did." I replied, hugging her tighter.

"Stop nicking stuff out of my head." She grumbled, burying her nose in my jumper.

"I think I knew it from the moment you stood up to me in the parking lot, but, last night, when I saw you in the station dressed as a skeleton, defending me to the police, I knew for sure." I continued gently, the moment replaying in my head, and cupped her face in my hands, taking in every beautiful, perfect inch "I understand you still have issues with what I've been telling you, but it's more than just a random pairing, Sky: I really feel so much for you, it's scaring me to death. You are just. . ." I searched fro the words that would encapsulate the emotion bursting and buzzing in my chest "just everything." I finally said "Your smile, the way you think, the way you get embarrassed when I tease you, your stubborn streak." I felt her conflicting emotions – the want to hear what I said, what I was going to say next, but also the dread of what I was going to say and was saying. They were totally opposite, and even she was confused by them.

"You've noticed I'm stubborn?" she said finally.

"Can't miss it. To me, you're the theme that harmonizes perfectly with mine." Sky was a music girl – she would understand if I put it in music terms. Another thing I loved about her. . . love. . . "I'm in love with you." I whispered, half to myself, half to Sky.

"You are?" she whispered back, and something shook in her voice. I darkened my gaze, knowing I was probably moving way too fast, too serious, but still going anyway; it had to be said.

"Sky, I've not felt like this before and it's terrifying." I admitted.

"Well, wow." She stepped back "Um. . . you should probably try to get over it. I'm not good at this relationship stuff."

"Sure you are." I disagreed light-heartedly, letting her retreat into her personal space again "You just need time to adjust." Then I slowly stepped forwards and wrapped my arms around her again, her head resting on my chest. At least she didn't pull away. I felt her intense confusion as my own. I heard the _what if_'s swirling in her mind, but, as usual, her mouth was on a different track to her mind.

"What's going on now?" she asked "Has Victor had any luck finding the people after you or who betrayed you?" I spun Sky around so that I was leaning against a desk and she was leaning against me, my arms looped around her midriff and chin resting on her head. Her hands wrapped around my forearms. They were cold.

"He thinks it's most likely it goes back to Daniel Kelly." I informed briskly. She turned her face to look up at me.

"Hey, I've heard of him. Doesn't be build skyscrapers?"

"That's only a third of what he does." I said darkly "he's currently building a city-within-a-city in Las Vegas. It's a massive complex of hotels, casinos, and apartments. But he does it with dirty money – not that anyone dare say as they'd be crushed by a ton of lawsuits. He's got various relations heading to different parts of his empire. Some are complete crooks – no better than the mafia. We caught a couple of them in Denver after a hit – we think on his orders, not that we can prove it; they went down for murder one a month ago – it was big news at the time."

"I remember them talking at school about it." Confirmed Sky with a small nod.

"Vick is trying to find out if they've got a savant on their payroll but it's tough. They're hardly going to talk to a Benedict and his sources are coming up dry. Kelly's got it in for us now. Will and Uriel are at college in Denver so they're watching each other's back. The rest of us are confined to the barracks." Sky's hand slid into mine caringly.

"What's Will's gift?"

"He's most like Dad, can sense trouble. He's great at telekinesis too."

"What's that?"

"Moving stuff."

"Like lemons?"

"Yeah." I smirked happily "I'm way better than Xav at it." The bell rang, making the end of our time together.

"I'm missing maths." Sky said calmly, not moving.

"That's too bad. I've missed being with you." I hugged her tighter to prove my point.

"I'll get a detention." She pulled away, grabbing her bag and looking expectantly at me.

"Then I'll get it too. Great idea."

"Won't you risk getting thrown out – Tina said you were in trouble again."

"No, they won't dare. I'll send you along to the principal's office in your skele-suit." I chuckled "Man, I love that outfit." No class interrupted us, and I perked up a bit, knowing we had another hour to ourselves.

"So are you going to tell me the rest of it, about your family?" she asked challengingly. I wandered over to the windowsill and helped Sky up beside me.

"Yeah, I suppose it's past time." I sighed "We can all do different stuff like telepathy, but we each have a main gift. You know about Dad sensing danger. Mom sees the future and can read thoughts off people: she's the most like me, I guess. Together they can maintain a guard around the house – it's part of their combined power as soulfinders." _Our powers,_ my mind corrected what my mouth couldn't say "Trace can read objects. If he touches something, he can see the person or the even that brought it there."

"Very handy for a cop." Injected Sky with a quirk of the head.

"We think so. It's either that or be an archaeologist. Uriel, I think I mentioned, sees the past. Victor can manipulate people's thinking –"

"_What_!" Sky practically yelled.

"Yeah, he channels emotions and thoughts. Not so good when you find yourself agreeing to do the dishes when it's his turn. Xav's a healer. And Yves can handle energy, make things explode, catch fire and so on."

"Bloody hell!" she exclaimed, and I almost laughed at her typically English idiolect "Yves looks so. . . well, so friendly and studious."

"It was scary when he was a toddler, Mom says, but he's got it under control."

"How can your family do these things?"

"We just can." I shrugged "It's like why do you have blue eyes?" I felt the change in Sky immediately, like she had been plunged into cold water.

"I guess I must have inherited them from my birth parents, but I wouldn't know, would I?" her expression was blank "They dumped me."

"Sorry, that was stupid of me. I saw something about that in your memories." I said, remembering the little blonde girl counting daisies; it must have been her.

"Sally and Simon couldn't have children so they took me on when everyone else thought I was too disturbed for adoption. I really didn't speak for four years until they rescued me." I could see so many emotions flitting through her blind gaze; love, realisation, care, and a scary kind of seriousness that left me struggling to formulate an appropriate response "They had the patience to coax me out of my shell."

"They're special people." I settled on, even though it sounded like a childish thing to say.

"Yes, they are."

"In the most important respect, they're your real parents now – I can see things from them in you."

"Like what?" interest and pleasure was written all over her face, and the hopeful note in her voice gave it all away. No one had said anything like this to her before.

"You're as nice as your mum about people and that stubbornness, that's from your dad."

"Good." She smiled slightly "He's a yorkshireman. He'll be pleased to hear it's catching."

"You shouldn't be scared of what you inherited from your biological parents." I decided "I can't see anything to be ashamed of when I look at you."

"Just don't look to hard." She whispered, crossing her arms over her knees in a tight little ball.

"I guess one of them must have been a savant." I said casually, catching a loose curl and twirling it around my fingers, watching the light shine on it in golden lines "My family comes from savants on both sides. Dad's people are part Ute – that's a Native American tribe. Mom says she has gypsies and all sorts in her bloodline. Dash of Irish somewhere along the way and a big dose of Mexico. I'd say we're doomed from birth."

"That's how it works?"

"Yeah. My parents are key player in the Savant Network – it's a kind of world-wide web for those of us with a gift. Mum's gift helps check those who join, making sure they are in it for the right reasons."

"So bad guys need not apply?" joked Sky, but I shook my head seriously.

"Not that they'd want to. The Net is about using our gift for the benefit of others. We keep ourselves secret so we can live as near to normal lives as possible, but that doesn't stop us helping where we can."

"And you really think I'm a savant too?"

"Yeah I do."

"But I can't move things." She disagreed.

"Have you tried?" I countered.

"Well, no." She said doubtfully, but proudly "I wouldn't know what to do. I thought I saw stuff once – aura, I suppose you'd call them – but I don't anymore." _Not that I'll admit anyway_. I let that slide, knowing she'll tell me what she wants to, and just enjoyed our rapidly dissolving minutes together, hand-in-hand. The sky looked stormy, with thick clouds, but pretty soon snow began to fall like icing sugar from the dark clouds.

"I think this is it," I said, breaking the silence "the first proper snow. I'd love to be able to teach you to ski but it's not safe for you to be with me out there." And I hated it. I tried to hide my emotions in a casual tone of voice, but I think my frustration slid through.

"I suppose it wouldn't be a good idea." Sky agreed perkily.

"You should get Tina to take you out," I said hopefully – wouldn't it be great if, when all this is over, Sky and me could ski together? "she's pretty good."

"I might do that." she smiled "But she'll laugh at me."

"Yeah, she will." I said, looking into the future; I saw Sky, wrapped up with too many layers, on the floor in a heap of snow while Tina was almost on the floor in her fits of laughter. Sky looked annoyed but her cheeks were bright red.

"Then again nothing can be as humiliating as a skeleton suit."

"Don't knock the suit." I frowned, but let my eyes show my amusement "I'm preserving that and gunna beg you to wear it on special occasions." A sharp spike of emotion swirled within Sky, and once again she showed her talent for saying something totally unrelated to her emotions.

"Will you teach me to shield? I don't want your family reading every thought that crosses my mind." I wrapped a comforting arm around her, hugging her closer to me.

"No, we wouldn't want that. I catch some of them sometimes, you know. I like the one where you. . ." and then I whispered the rest into her ear, detailing everything that I had seen in her mind, ever secret moment she had ever dreamed of, where we were together with no chance of interruption or danger. It made her blush furiously with embarrassment and me glow with happiness; _she _had though that, about _me_. She couldn't deny it – she loved me too.

"Shields – I need shields." She muttered to herself when I was done. I laughed in response.

"OK. The technique is simple but it takes practice. It's best to use visualisation. Imagine building walls, putting yourself inside them, keeping the emotions, ideas, thoughts safe behind the barriers."

"What kind of wall?" her eyes had closed in concentration and when she spoke, her lips barely moved.

"It's your wall; you decide." I closed my eyes and watched as a wall appeared in front of me, the colour of the sky on a sunny day.

"That's good." I commented.

"You can see what I'm seeing?"

"An echo. When someone's shielded I see a shadow, a blank. Yours is a pale blue colour."

"My bedroom walls." She explained, and my mind was cast to when I had sat in her apple tree, begging her to go out with me, to understand. I remember seeing a flash of bright blue on the walls.

"Yeah, that's good. Safe, familiar. When you throw that up between anyone listening, they should find it hard to get behind. But it takes work – and we all forget from time to time."

"The savant working for the shooter – has he let his shield drop?" her eyes flashed open, and I caught the similarity between her wall colour and her eyes. They were a very similar shade of forget-me-not blue, almost turquoise.

"That's why we know he's good – powerful." I said, shaking my head "Either that or he's long gone, but we doubt it."

"They'll try again?"

"We think so. We hope so, because now we are expecting them, we have a chance of catching them, and they might roll over on the mole in the FBI. But knowing what's in the wind, you be extra careful, promise?" I ran a finger over her hand again and the result was the same as last time; a shiver down the spine, a strong reaction to such a simple touch.

"I promise."

"I'm keeping you a secret," I told her – or was I telling myself? "even from my family. You're too precious to risk anywhere near this mess."


	16. Chapter 16: Goodbye Sky!

_Here's another one, yep, it's teh one where she get's stolen! Dun dun duuuhhhh! again, i apologise for any misspellings, and enjoy!_

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><p>It was true, when I beat up that kid on Halloween I wasn't thinking of the future – and no, the irony is not lost on me. But working extra shifts on the slope were not how I wanted to spend my weekend. My mind kept on wandering to Sky; how was she? I had heard she was on the beginners slope, working with Tina. It killed me to be so close to her, yet not be able to go down, say hi – wrap her in my arms. I was just loading a down car when a familiar voice rang out from behind me.<p>

"How much?" Sky was asking the man at the coffee stall, holding a take-away cup in her hand and a tiny purse in the other. The man replied something too low for me to hear, and Sky thanked him. I jogged up and snagged her around the waist, spinning her in the air and making her squeak in surprise.

"How's it going?"

"I'm crap at skiing." She smiled back, unable to keep her sour mood when we were together – and, likewise, I had found that my moodiness had left with the down car.

"Yeah, I thought you might be." I agreed, and she gasped in shock and swatted me on the shoulder with a smile; I spun her around again, which caused another giggle "I've only a minute until the next car arrives, just enough to steal a bite of whatever you've got in there."

"This your girl, Zed?" the stallholder asked, and I looked over at him.

"Yeah, Josè."

"Why is it all the best ones are taken?" he asked jokingly "Ah well." He passed over a bag and winked at Sky playfully. I pulled her back into a private spot where we could be alone. I could hear her thoughts, but she was shielding them from formulating into words.

"How do you know where the car is?" I stole a doughnut while she wasn't looking and took a bite "Hey!" I grabbed the bag and held it out of reach, pointing to the monitor with my other hand.

"That shows me I've four minutes." I explained; not that she was listening anymore, she was too focused on the doughnut bag. Sky jumped and grabbed the doughnut from my hand, licking the jam.

"Sweet tooth?"

"You've noticed?"

"The hot chocolate with everything was a bit of a clue." I admitted with a wink. Sky took a bit then handed it back.

"You can finish it." I grabbed it and finished it off, stealing her coffee as well.

"Urgh! Milk." _Serves you right for stealing her coffee_, an internal voice said smugly "I should've guessed. I need something to take the taste away. I know!" I bent and pecked at her lips. Her body shifted, and she clung to me tightly. I hummed with pleasure and deepened the kiss. Some whoops and wolf whistles interrupted us – that'll be the next car arriving.

"Here, Zed, stop making out and let us out!" a girl with black hair yelled with a grin.

"Down, boy!" a senior barked happily.

"OK,OK," I called back, dropping Sky back on her feet with a pleased smile. Sky hung around until the next down car came.

"Thanks for coming up." I said to her, closing the door behind her "You've still got a bit of sugar on your lip." I leaned in before she could move and brushed it away with my lips, the straightened her jacket briskly.

"Hmm, I think I'll have to visit you again." She hummed "It appears that the cable car is going to be more my thing than skiing."

"Take care." It was a poor goodbye, but the best I could think of at the time; I was starting to hate goodbyes.

"I'll try." She smiled slightly as the car started to move away "You take care too."

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><p>I went through the rest of the week checking in on Sky with my mind, but not my mouth. She was doing fine, and when she slowly slid down the small slope without slipping over for the first time I actually gave a little whoop of success. The people around me have me a weird look.<p>

"Mornin'." I nodded to them and got back to what I was doing, but was smiling to myself for the rest of the day. In retrospect, I should have known it couldn't last, but right then nothing had seemed better; if only we could actually _talk_! It was cleaning the sink at home when the call came through; a sharp jab of panic and pain made me stumble backwards.

_"ZED!"_ Sky's frantic scream was punched straight into my brain and I had a flash of black, of stuffy air, of strange voices.

_"Sky? What's wrong?"_ I demanded back, but just as soon as she made the link she snapped it off. There was something about it that made me not try and reach her again. For one, frantic second, I couldn't move, couldn't think. They had Sky – _my _Sky. It had happened, and I hadn't been there to save her; instead, I was scrubbing the sink because of a false alarm! Then everything zoomed back into super-speed and I was tearing through the house, yelling every name I could think of.

"Zed!" it was dad, grabbing me by the shoulders to still me, but even his steady gaze couldn't hold me still for long "What's wrong?" the symmetry of what I had just said to Sky before the connection broke was a pain in my chest.

"Dad, they have her, they have Sky!" I was still shouting "She needs help!"

"Did you have a vision?" he asked, then stepped away and ran his hands through his hair – a gesture very unlike him "Never mind. What matters is we need to get her back."

The phone rang. Dad grabbed it on the first ring and he didn't even have a chance to reel off the usual greeting before a hysterical voice screamed from the other end. I could practically hear the tears in the woman's voice.

"Calm down, Sally, calm down, we're dealing with it; have you phoned the police? Good, don't – it might just be a hoax. We'll call back when we hear something." Then the phone was slammed back down "That was Mrs Bright – she called Sky when she was late to meet her. A man answered her phone – said something about an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, two Benedicts for the two of theirs or something. She was hard to understand." By this time the whole household was around the two of us in a circle; Xav and Yves were looking very white, but their eyes shone with the same determination. I knew they had both liked Sky.

"We'll try to contact her, get some info." Dad said, and suddenly we were all standing there, eyes closed, fishing out Sky's burning light in our minds. Everything seemed to be happening suddenly right then. We all found her at once and started hammering, calling her name, asking questions.

_"Help me! Please!"_ a cry came through before a shield wrapped around her, hiding her from us totally. That was a deliberate move, designed to frustrate us; I wish I could say it didn't work. I opened my eyes and kicking the table leg, running my hands through my hair with a growl. They had my girl, and it was my fault.

"They have a savant," Xav said needlessly "the Shielder." Yves and mum were still trying to break through the shield, but I knew it was hopeless.

"She's trying to break through it!" Yves suddenly shouted with a smile "Go on, Sky!" I couldn't share his pride; we all knew it was hopeless, and their savant would feel her and stop her. I shuddered. _Don't think about it_. I could already hear dad calling to Victor on the phone, telling him what we knew and what we could deduct. I was just trying not to cry – Sky needed me, I couldn't waste time on moping around.

"I need to find her." I said, standing and grabbing my motorbike keys.

"Zed, no, man." Xav grabbed my arm to stop me, then slowly retracted it when he saw my expression "It's too dangerous; there could be more just waiting until we separate. Dad's getting Trace, Uriel and Victor down here, and then we'll work on finding out where she's headed."

"I can't do nothing." I said quietly, my voice shaking with anger; not at my brother, but at the assholes who dared take her.

"You won't be." Xav said "We will find her, Zed, and she'll be fine. Sky's a sturdy gal; she can take care of herself for awhile."

Even as he said it, I knew we both heard the doubt and fear in his voice.


	17. Chapter 17: Saving Sky

I sat in my room. There was noise from downstairs, all my brothers thundering around, but I didn't join in. I lay on my bed, eyes closed, my mind wide open, waiting for anything to come to me, probing the black space for Sky's light. A group of lights, burning brightly, moved not far from me – my family – but none of them had Sky's particular glow. It had been hours, and Sky's parents were getting impatient; they had called several times to speak with Victor. They had asked for me every time as well, but I had refused to talk. I couldn't lose concentration, not for a second – what if that we the second Sky got a message through? What if I missed something vital? No, I wasn't stopping for anything. Weariness tugged at my mind, blurring the sharp edges, but all I needed to do was remember Sky's frantic voice as she screamed for me, see the blackness that she saw, and all hope for sleep flew out the window and I launched into my struggle again. It was late when I started to see a glimmer, and felt a weak, halting flow of energy. I stretched my mind further, making my head throb, but it was worth it; the connection got stronger.

_ "Zed?"_ Sky's faint voice drifted forwards.

_"Sky?" _I replied hopefully.

_"I'm in Vegas."_ She said immediately, faintly, and I paused with shock. Vegas?

_"You can't. . . How can you speak to me from Vegas?"_ I felt the connection falter and gripped onto it tighter, desperate for every second of communication.

_"You. . . me. . . the savant, remember?"_ even with the gaps, I could sense her dark humour; I felt like kissing her right there and then.

_"It's a miracle."_ I replied wonderingly.

_". . . OK. They've. . . on the. . . floor of the. . . Teller."_

_ "Can't hear you, Sky. You're breaking up." _My head was screaming in pain, but I still clung on.

_ ". . . Teller. Top. . ." _she repeated.

_"I love you."_ I said. I could feel the connection begin to snap from both sides.

_". . . Teller. . . floor." _She repeated.

_"I love you, Sky. I swear I'll come for you."_

_"No!"_

_ "Easier when we're closer."_

_ "No. . . it's. . . trap. . . love. . . come. . . what they. . ." _the link fractured, but I tried desperately to hold on.

_"Sky!" _I yelled as the link shattered and she faded away. I was shaking, and quickly turned to throw up over the side of my bed, but I didn't care; what had she said? Was she going to say she knew I loved her, or that _she_ loved _me_? I didn't know, but I was determined to find out, to save her.

"Zed!" Xav burst into my room – I must had shouted Sky's name out loud – and flinched back when he saw me, sweaty and shaking "Are you OK? What happened, we heard you cry Sky's name?"

"Zed?" Yves came in behind him "Jesus, did you throw up in here?"

"I know where she is." I said shakily, trying to stand, but my legs were shaking "Sky. She's in Vegas."

"Vegas?" Victor corrected, coming up a beat behind everyone else "No way – that's impossible. No savant can contact another over that distance."

"I know she's in Vegas!" I repeated angrily, stumbling to grab Yves' shoulder "I couldn't get an exact location; the link was breaking. We need to go now!"

"I said that's impossible!" yelled Victor

"And I said she's in Vegas!" I yelled back, feeling the walls would break down with the volume of my voice "What's there to lose? So, it might be a false lead, but it might be true! It's the best we've got." Silence, then Victor nodded slowly.

We were going to Vegas.

* * *

><p>I walked into the empty warehouse. It had been hard work, tracking her down, but I had no doubt we were meant to find her. I could feel her getting closer every step of the way, and it was all I could do to stop from running. Xav stopped before a door and nodded. This is it. I shuffled forwards to help and inched the door open. Through the crack, I could see Sky in her ski suit, her hair wild and bedraggled around her shadowed face, her arms and legs tied to a chair.<p>

"It's us." Xav called "We've come alone like you demanded."

"What have you done with Sky?" I butted in "Is she all right?" Sky looked confused, and close to tears. Didn't she recognise my voice? Maybe she had a concussion? Rage exploded in my mind – if they had even touched her, they would seriously regret it. You meddle with Sky, you meddle with me. She drew her knees up to her chest, quivering into a tiny ball, eyes wide.

_"Sky?" _I sent to her _"Please answer! I'm going crazy here. Tell me you're OK."_ I heard a scared whimper, and all thoughts of doubt evaporated from my mind.

"Xav, that's her! She's hurt." I moved forwards, but Xav grabbed my arm.

"It's a trap, Zed. We do this as we agreed. _I know you wanna save her, but it'll be better this way. Be patient_._"_ We stayed in the shadows.

"Tell us what you want in exchange for Sky and it's yours." I called, hating the quaver in my voice.

"Just step out here where I can see you and I'll tell you," the man beside Sky said.

"The thing is, we're not stupid. You can tell us while we stay where we are."

"If you don't came out with your hands us, I'll put a bullet in your little girlfriend." Sky started shaking slightly and shook her head to herself, her eyes full of confusion, doubt, fear.

"Zed?" a vulnerable voice called weakly.

"Sky? Hold on, baby, we're going to get you out of this." I called back gently; I heard desperation in my voice, but hopefully it sounded calm to Sky. God knows I wasn't fooling Xav. Sky's head started shaking harder.

"Go a. . . way!" she choked out, and I couldn't help it; I stepped into the open and had my first clear look at her. She looked terrible, like she had been ill for months. Dark hollows were under her eyes and her lips were deathly pale. But her eyes, I had never seen her eyes so blue. It was like before, they had contained a hint of grey, and now it was gone, showing a pure, clear colour like I had never seen before, not in the most expensive sapphires, deepest oceans or most perfect of flowers. She was staring at me with a strange expression.

"Don't look at me like that, baby." I begged "I'm here now. Just let me talk to the man who's got you and we'll get you free." I reassured, as if talking to a child; but even that she didn't seem to understand. This was more than a concussion. I stepped closer.

_"How many of them are there?"_ I asked in her mind _"Has he got a gun on me?"_ I was shown strange images she couldn't seem to control; a gun in pale hands, blood, the gun in a set of hands again, _Sky's_ hands. But the images were dark, the details were fuzzy; the image was fake.

_"What's wrong with you, Sky? I can see what you're seeing. Your mind feels different towards me."_ what had happened to her?

"He has a gun." Sky said, but she didn't sound the same "Gator, don't shoot anyone. We mustn't. I've killed them already but they don't die – they just come back." She was speaking nonsense; how could she have killed us? It didn't make sense.

"Quiet, Sky," the man – _Gator_ – snapped "And you, come where I can see you. I'm sure you'd prefer me to have you in my sights than your girlfriend." He teased. I complied, ignoring Xav's mental warnings, and stepped into full sight. Sky's eyes scanned my body frantically, but her eyes were still confused, and half-glazed over.

"Now your brother. I want both of you where I can see you. Come a bit closer to Sky. Don't you want to see what we've done to her?" Gator taunted.

"You don't want her." I said, stepping closer and clenching my fists – there were scratches on her face "The Kellys' quarrel is with the Benedicts – not her. She's nothing to do with this." Sky's eyes were fixed on my face now. They didn't blink, they didn't waver, but they didn't see; she was thinking hard. Did she see something I didn't see? Then she closed her eyes, and when she opened them, her eyes were an explosion of blue, an icy fire in her pale face. I felt something shift in her body. A change, and I felt like my senses were put on hyperactivity mode. Something had changed within her. Guilt twisted in my gut – why wasn't I in her place? Why did she have to suffer on my account?

"Zed!" she suddenly screamed frantically "Get down." I started moving a second before the bullet was released with a loud crack. A second crack. Has one hit Sky? Xav ran for cover, but I shot towards Sky. Sky screamed in terror when she saw me running towards her and I ran faster.

_"Victor. Code Red! Code Red!"_ Xav shot the message out in all directions with a strength fuelled by fear and adrenaline. I threw myself over Sky as she curled into a tiny ball, her hands holding her knees tightly to her chest.

"Don't shoot" Sky pleaded "Please, no!" I wasn't sure who she was talking to, and I turned to protect her with my back. I would take a bullet for her; but what if the bullet took us both?

"No!" Sky yelled and pushed me away with a strength I didn't know she had. A bullet shot between us and ricocheted wildly away. _Sky saved my life_. Then the world started to melt around us. Gunshots rang out, FBI surrounded the area, bursting through invisible doors. Sky hissed and started sobbing, tears streaking her face, and I saw red bloom on her right arm; I swore and covered her wound with my hand, tears streaming down _my_ face too. Suddenly, all the shooting stopped.

"Gat me a medic over here!" I yelled frantically "Sky's been hit." She lay quietly before me, but pain was etched onto every line in her face. She bit down on her lip to stop from making any noise. A police paramedic rushed over, a woman.

"I've got her." She told me sternly with well-practiced calm. I released my grip on her arm, but her blood on my hands seemed far too symbolic "From the looks of it, just a graze." The medic continued "Possibly she caught a ricochet."

"They're dead." Sky murmured. I stroked her hair gently.

"Yeah."

"What happened to me?"

"You hit your head too?" the medic said, taking note of the blood in her hair "When did this happen?"

"I don't know." She replied vaguely, then her eyes slid to me "You locked me in the boot of your car. Why did you do that?" I just gaped at her, shocked. What was she talking about?

"No, I didn't, Sky." I said slowly, clearly "Is that what they did to you? Oh God, baby, I'm sorry."

"We'd best get her checked for concussion." The medic said "Keep talking to her." With a flick of her fingers, a stretcher was headed our way. I untied her legs with shaky fingers.

"I shot you." She said.

"No, you didn't, Sky." I repeated calmly "The men were shooting at us, remember?"

"I don't know what to think." She muttered.

"Just think that you are safe now." I told her tightly. Two medics lifted her onto the stretcher and I clung onto her uninjured arm. My family was approaching.

"I'm sorry I shot you," she said "but you were attacking me." my family circled her stretcher, and I wiped the blood from her cheek.

"I wasn't attacking you and you haven't shot me." I told her. My emotions were leaking out of the bottle I had wax-sealed them in. It had been a long couple of hours. Sky was loaded onto the ambulance. I moved to follow her, but Sky shook her head.

"I shot him." She told the woman seriously, her eyes begging the woman to understand – they had lost the magical glow they had taken on before and had settled back into a normal blue-grey "He can't come with me; he hates me."

"I'm sorry," the woman told me, not looking the least bit sorry "your presence is upsetting her. Where are her parents?"

"They're booked into a hotel off the Strip," dad filled in for me – he knew I couldn't be bothered to talk anymore, I didn't _want_ to talk anymore; not if it wasn't to Sky "I'll let them know. Which hospital are you taking her to?"

"The Cedars." The woman replied, anxious to be gone.

"OK, I'll stay away, let her calm down if you think that's best," I said, releasing her hand, but I looked at Sky when I spoke "Sally and Simon will be there. You hear that, Sky?" she didn't reply; instead, her eyes closed and she passed out just as the doors closed, leaving me staring after her with tears in my eyes.


	18. Chapter 18: Visiting Sky

Here's the next part! again, some of the parts are made up so they may be not exact with the rest of teh book, but only in tiny details! Please R & R

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><p>I knew the second Sky woke up. She was confused, and desperately unhappy. Sally and Simon had been at her side every second, but I felt too much like an outsider and too guilty to join them, so I had stayed in the uncomfortably waiting room seats, focusing on Sky with every cell in my body. Xav had been trying to convince us to let him heal her, to help, but we all knew it was already too late; the authorities were involved, and too much attention would be attracted by a miraculous recovery. I stood up as soon as Simon emerged from her room.<p>

"Can I see her?" I asked immediately. I needed to know she was OK, she was whole and mostly well.

"She doesn't want any visitors." Simon said gravely, and slightly sympathetically. His eyes spoke to me, and I understood – she didn't want to see _me_. I felt the hope die from my eyes and I slowly sat down again. It wasn't supposed to be like this; we were meant to be together, no matter what, not forced apart. It was then that I realized Soulfinders could make a savant go dark in more than one way.

"Relax, kid." Simon placed a hand on my shoulder – somewhere between Sky sneaking out to be with me and her getting kidnapped and taken to Vegas, super-dad had started to like me – and gave my shoulder a squeeze "She just needs time to heal. She'll come around." He patted me once more before hurrying back to Sky. I rubbed my face with my hands.

"He's right, Zed." Xav said gently "She's been through allot; give her a rest and she'll be biting back soon enough." But I couldn't help but feel something was wrong; Sky's past was a well-known and rarely talked about thing, full of deep shadows and rat traps waiting to bite.

"I'm gunna talk to her," Victor declared "see what she knows." And he strode off. That was all Victor, no questions asked, just do it.

"We should leave, get some sleep." Dad said, looking at me "She'll be fine on her own; Sally and Simon are with her." I nodded numbly and we all stood. When I walked past Sky's room, I slowed, drinking her in. Her face was the same, but her eyes looked. . . troubled. Different. I stopped, and placed my hand on the glass. Sky clenched her fists on the sheets; fear shone in her eyes. The jug of water began to rattle, the light stuttered, the emergency buzzer crashed to the floor. My expression darkened, and dad came up behind me.

"Let's go, Zed." He said quietly, and I nodded. Oh, so many emotions were put into those three words. I gave her one last look before moving on, and for once, I didn't think the strength of my family would be quite enough this time.

That night I went for a walk. Well, I went to find noise to push the worries from my head. Sky. The Kelleys. The FBI snoop. Sky. It all weighed in me like a block of lead, one for each trouble. I was alerted by a rowdy cheer from a drunken group of men; they were stumbling from a bar, _The Velvet Monkey_. I changed my direction and entered the full, stuffy place. The barman was middle-aged and grey-haired; I ordered something non-alcoholic, aware of the laws even if I didn't like them. The man next to me on the bar stool snorted; he must have been twice my weight. I wasn't aware I was also searching for a fight, but suddenly I wanted nothing more than blood on my knuckles.

"Something wrong, man?" I sneered, and the man turned to face me.

"No, nothing, dude – I just thought this was a bar, not a day-care-centre." He grunted, sipping a large glass of beer.

"You have a problem with me being here?" I stood, and he followed me; a hush had fallen in those near us, and eyes were watching for a fight – they wanted one as much as I did. And I was never one to disappoint. I swung a fast punch that winded him and he quickly replied with one of his own. I grunted and grinned; this was _good_.

"Had enough, kid?" the man teased to a roaring crowd "Wanna cry away to mummy?"

"Oh, don't you wish." I said before my knuckles ground against his jaw, making him spit blood and saliva. I followed it with three more of the kind before a strong arm pulled me backwards.

"Give it a rest, Zed." Xav grunted, and I was outside before I knew it.

"What are you doing?" I yelled at him "I had him!"

"No, you were two punches away from a police arrest." Xav spat "You can thank me later." And walked off, leaving me seething. He was right; but now Sky was back in my head, her face as she passed out in the ambulance. I was helpless, hopeless – useless. That was something a soulfinder should never be.

Thanksgiving flew by, but I found it hard to find anything to be thankful for. Sky still refused my visits. Victor went to talk with her, but I didn't get any spontaneous calls from Sky, no acceptances or any signs that anything had changed at all. She was moved to a rehab house – I knew she's think of it as a loony bin – but in the end I couldn't stay away. I bad been strong for weeks; but this was a breaking point. So I drove down and visited, buying a prettily decorated box of chocolates; Sky's sweet tooth was legendary.

I just kept on taking deep breaths as I walked down the too-brightly-lit corridor, gripping the chocolate box in both hands. I had almost reached her room when two familiar figures stepped out, hand-in-hand.

"Hey, Zed!" Tina smiled, but, like the corridor, it was too bright to be true.

"Hey," I said lowly "how is she?"

"She's good." Said Nelson "Just as sarcastic, if a little thin."

"Good. Good." I couldn't think of another thing to say, so just walked past them and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Came a spoken reply, but it was unmistakably Sky. I opened the door and saw what Nelson meant about her being a bit thin.

"Hi." _Good start, idiot_. Was that all I could say? 'Hi'?

"H. . . hi." She stuttered, her throat working hard to get the words out.

I revealed the golden box from behind my back "I come bearing chocolate."

"In that case, you'd better sit down." Her voice sounded calm, but empty, like she was saying what she was meant to say, not what she wanted to say. I could feel her emotions churning like the ocean in a thunder storm. I put the box her neatly made bed and went to stand beside her at the window.

"Nice view." I commented lamely.

"Yeah." She said around clenched teeth – I couldn't figure out why "We crazy people get to go out earlier in the day. I'm told there's a snowman down in the orchard that looks like the head nurse." I flinched at her words, but took her trembling hand in mine. The trembling stopped.

"You're not crazy." Her laugh was strangled and slightly hysterical, and a hand came up to wipe away a tear.

"That's what everyone keeps telling me but my brain feels like cold scrambled egg." She said, looking down.

"You're still in shock." I explained helplessly, but we both knew she wasn't.

"No, Zed, it's more than that." she said, shaking her head "I see things I don't think happened. I've got all these terrible images in my head – stuff about you and Xav. But you're not like that – part of me knows this. And I think I shot you both. I wake up in a cold sweat dreaming there's a gun in my hand. I haven't even touched a gun in my life so how do I know what it feels like to shoot one?"

"Come here." It was all I could think to do – hold her in my arms until everything was better again and we were safe and she loved me. But she pushed away.

"No, Zed, you don't want to touch me." she sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks "I'm. . . I'm broken."

_I don't want her broken, not yet._ I thought, pulling her close to me despite her protests.

"You're not broken, Sky." I struggled to keep my voice even – it was so hard to be the strong one when the strongest one of us all was crying in my arms "Even if you were, I'd still want you, but you're not. I don't know why you see those things, but if you do, there's a reason for it. Perhaps that dead savant messed with your mind somehow? Whatever it takes, we'll find out and we'll help you. But Xav and I, we weren't anywhere near you until we found you in the warehouse. Do you believe that?" she nodded, her blonde frizz scuffing against my shirt.

"I think I do." She murmured. I ran my hands down her back, trying to gently push out the tension and knots in it. She was stressed, too stressed.

"I thought I'd lost you." I admitted, and my voice broke just a little bit "I can't tell you what it means to me to hold you like this."

"You came for me even though you knew they might shoot you." She whispered.

"I was wearing a bulletproof vest." I said in objection – it was no act of bravery, it was an act of self-survival; because Sky was me. If Sky died, I died, if she hurt, I hurt. If she was broken – I was broken.

"You still could've been killed. They could've taken a head shot." I took her face in my hand, stroking her face. Sky.

"Price with paying." I said truthfully "Without you, I'd become the coldest, most cynical tough nut on the planet, worse even than the guys who took you."

"I don't believe that."

"It's true." I had made a point to say nothing but the truth to Sky a long time ago "You are my anchor, keeping me on the right side of wrong. I've been drifting since you shut me out."

"Victor told me." she admitted, and I frowned.

"I told him to leave you alone." I muttered; and I had, numerous times and in a voice much louder than the one I was talking with to Sky.

"He's worried about you.

"But you come first." I disagreed.

"I'm sorry I wouldn't let you visit. I was so ashamed of myself." Her face was hidden, so I couldn't see her expression, but I could feel every tense, frozen muscle in her body.

"You've nothing to be ashamed of."

"I left you to suffer."

"I'm a big boy – I can take it."

"You got into a fight."

"I'm also stupid." I commended. Sky smiled, just a hint of the real beauty of her full smile, and rubbed her nose against my shirt.

"You're not stupid; you were hurting."

"It's still stupid to take that out on a couple of Frat boys for looking at me the wrong way." I disagreed, shaking my head at my own behaviour; what was I thinking? Well, I _hadn't_ been thinking. But Sky wouldn't like it if I got into a fight. I knew that "I know you're confused about a lot right now, Sky, but I want you to know one thing for sure: I love you and I would give my life for yours if it meant I could save you." Tears started wobbling in her eyes – I couldn't tell if they were good or bad tears.

"I know. I felt it. I could read your emotions. That's what told me my mind was lying to me." this was hard, immeasurably hard for her to admit; that she wasn't a normal human girl, that she was different, abnormal, strange. But I loved it about her. That she was different and abnormal and strange, that she thought in comic strips and spoke in a different tenor to her thoughts and played music so well she might as well have been an angel. But instead of saying all of that, I simply leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"And I think." She continued shakily "that under all this, when I find myself again, I will also find that I love you too." It was barely a promise, but it was still there and I clung onto it like a life jacket.

"That's good to know." I breathed. And then we just stood, wrapped up with each other I was sure I couldn't tell where Sky finished and I started, watching the starts twinkle in the black velvet sky and praying for a reprieve.


	19. Chapter 19: Oh, Sky

_Sorry this one's taken so long, but it's finally here! Enjoy and review if you find anything worth reviewing_

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><p>I knew when Sky returned, but I didn't visit – Xav said she needed her space, and I agreed. So I stayed at home and listened in when I could, went to school and put up with all the looks from everyone else. I had made friends in Sky's friends; even Nelson made an effort to be friendly when he heard what had gone down. But I could still feel their concerned glances – I appreciated the care, but just wished to be alone. No, not alone – alone with Sky. She didn't go to school – she stayed at home. One day Mum and Dad went round to offer their help. I knew before they had even turned into the drive that the visit had been counterproductive.<p>

_"No go, Zed."_ Dad thought _"They're being very protective – says she's not going to be around much longer. Simon's very angry, Sally's very scared."_ I stayed in my room, which had become my second home since Sky returned, and nodded to myself. It was understandable; if I was in Simon's position, I would do just the same thing.

_"Where is she going?"_ I responded.

_"He didn't say, but I took a peek."_ Dad replied guiltily _"They've got an offer from a woman in Vegas. Simon's seriously thinking about going there with Sky and Sally."_ I let in info stand in silence. That was bad – but if only one cell in my body was Sky's soulfinder, I would stop her from going or chase after her until I can't run anymore. And every cell in my body was tuned to her, and were hers; they responded to her touch and hummed to her tune.

* * *

><p>It was far later that evening when the red light went off in my head. We all knew what it meant even before the message came through:<p>

_"Someone's breached the shield!"_ Trace punched into all our minds, and we were immediately downstairs.

"Step into the light so we can see you." Trace was shouting, pointing a handgun at a small, child-like figure in the shadows. It stepped into the dim light and it only took half a second to recognise her as Sky.

"And I said 'hands up'!" Trace bellowed threateningly.

"Trace, it's Sky!" I yelled, bursting from the house and into the snow. She looked freezing, with flimsy soft shoes on and no coat. She must have walked from her house.

"It might be a trap," Trace warned, not relaxing his stance. Idiot! Didn't he know what guns did to her? Vick stepped out from the shadows behind her – he had circled round to block her exit.

"Let go of me!" I didn't know who was holding me back, but I clawed against their arms and tried to stamp on their feet, anything to get free.

"Why aren't you using telepathy, Sky?" dad spoke calmly, helping Yves restrain me. Sky swallowed hard and shook her head.

"Can I come in? You said I could come." She called shakily, uncertainly.

"Is she alone?" Trace asked Victor.

"Seems so." He nodded.

"You ask her, just to make sure." Trace said, lowering his gun "We can't risk a mistake."

"Don't you touch her, Vick! Leave her alone!" I broke free from Yves' arms and leapt down the steps.

"Zed!" dad called to stop me. I didn't stop. I reached her and trapped her in my arms. She was so cold, and her arms were shaking.

"Oh, baby, you're freezing!" I said, holding her close to me, giving her my warmth.

"I. . . I'm sorry to come like this." She stuttered, and I suddenly wanted to laugh. Typical Sky.

"Stop being so damn British about it – you don't need to apologise. Ssh, it's fine." I rubbed her arms to try and get them warm. Dad came up behind me, but I could tell he didn't have the heart to break us up.

"It's not fine, not until we know why she's here. She walked right through our security perimeter. She can't have done that without help. Her powers aren't that strong." Dad said lowly. Victor pulled her away – I knew I had no choice but to let her go.

"_Tell us why you're here. Did someone send you?_" we all heard the power that layered his voice "_Sky, you must tell me_."

"Stop it, stop it!" she screamed, pulling away and stumbling backwards, shaking her head "Get out of my brain, all of you!" she tripped over a tuft of grass and landed on her back, her hands covering her ears. I shoved Victor out the way and picked her up, hugging her close to my chest. I was shaking with rage, and the edges of my vision were turning red.

"I'm taking her inside and I don't care what you say." I yelled furiously "She's mine – my soulfinder – and you'd better not stop me." all responses were silence with my announcement – several jaws even hung open "Look at her – she's blue with cold." I shouldered my way past my immobile family and headed straight for the kitchen. Xav and Will were checking the CCTV cameras around the perimeter.

"She walked in," Will said, checking a video of the cable car compound "No sign of anyone else."

"Sky, what are you playing at?" chastised Xav, turning away from the monitor and towards Sky – his eyes widened when he saw her "Sheesh, Zed, didn't you notice she's bleeding? Put her on the counter." I complied with Xav's order – he was the best thing for her wounds at the moment. Xav eased off her ragged shoes and Sky winced as he placed his hands on her bloody feet. A loud clatter alerted me to Victor's entrance.

"Will, Xav, there's something little brother's forgotten to mention."

"Yeah, meet his soulfinder." Trace said, shaking his head. Xav jumped before going back to healing Sky. Will whistled.

"No kidding?"

"That's what he says." Trace glanced at dad for confirmation; he nodded.

"Well, what'd'ya know." Will grinned at Sky "Got any older sisters, Sky?" I smiled gratefully at him – Will was good at setting people at ease.

"Not that she knows – but we'll try and find out for you."

"Don't forget the rest of us," butted in Trace – he smile looked slightly forced "Some of us are running out of time."

"Patience, son." Dad said, clapping his shoulder briefly "You'll find her." I didn't care about Trace and his absent soulfinder – I cared about _my_ soulfinder.

"You walked here all on your own?" I asked gently, my eyes unable to move from her bloody feet – the gashes were steadily healing, and if I didn't know what to look for I wouldn't have seen it, but the blood remained were it had leaked from her torn skin "Why?"

"I need help," she whispered, shrinking in towards my chest fearfully – I hugged her closer, willing all my warmth and strength to go to her instead "I needed you." Was it wrong that I was happy with those words? But Sky _needed_ me – she needed _me_. I could feel Trace and Victors' suspicion, their tense bodies too close to me and Sky, and bit off a protective growl. Sky didn't need arguments and verbal battles right then.

"I want your brothers to know I'm telling the truth." She spoke to me; I knew she didn't want to talk to everyone else, so I was acting as her bridge "You don't think I'm here because someone sent me to hurt you, do you?" She rubbed her cheek against my shirt, clinging to me tightly.

"No, baby." I cooed, pushing my nose into her lightly scented hair.

"Your Dad said I could come."

"I know." I glared at everyone in the room: _Look at what you did_, my eyes roared, _are you happy? You did this to her._

"What's her number?"Dad said, picking up the phone.

"They don't know I'm gone." She mumbled quietly.

"Better to wake them up to tell them you're safe than to let them discover your empty bed and worry." Dad reasoned and I reeled off the number. Dad had a quick, quiet conversation with Sky's parents. There were angry replies from the other end, but dad calmed them down with his cool logic and eventually they settled into a less hysterical tone of voice.

"I want to stay," Sky whispered so low I could barely hear her, then louder "I want to stay." Dad glanced at me and nodded.

"Yes, Simon, she's OK, a little cold but we're looking after her." I looked at Sky's almost-healed feet and acknowledged that dad was lying for us – not something he did very often "She's sure she wants to stay. Why not come and collect her after breakfast? No point turning out in the middle of the night when there's no need. Yep, will do." He set the phone down "He'll drive over in the morning. He says that you were to get some rest and not worry."

"Am I grounded again?" I ruffled her hair lovingly with a small smile.

"He didn't mention that." Dad smiled

"I bet I am."

"Until you're fifty." I butted in.

"I thought as much." She sighed dramatically. Xav released her feet and wiggled his finger stiffly.

"I've done what I can for your soulfinder." Xav said, using the word _soulfinder_ with as much relish as I too from hearing him say it "She needs to keep warm and sleep it off now. The cuts are pretty much healed." Sure enough, when I looked down her feet had only a handful of tender, pinkish marks that would fade and heal on their own.

"Thanks." I lifted Sky, keeping her close to me "I'll put her in my bed for tonight. Mom's going to lend her some dry nightclothes."

* * *

><p>Mum disapproved about us sharing a room. She clicked her tongue unhappily and skewered me with that 'you really think I'm that stupid?' look that only a mother can give. I leaned forwards and lent my forehead against hers – I got a flashback of when I was a kid and she was so much taller than me when she did this. Now I had to bend down so she could reach.<p>

"Tell me what you see, Mom." I said, eyes closed "I've dropped my shields." Mom sighed, and I knew she had given up.

"I see you standing guard over her and behaving like a perfect gentleman." She said grudgingly, but with a delighted twinkle in her eyes. She was just as happy about this as I was.

"That's right." I looked over at Sky and winked at her "Sometimes having a Mom who sees the future is a blessing." I was suddenly struck by Sky's beauty; sitting there, drowned by my Mom's nightclothes, with her hair wild and loose around her pixie face, her eyes lit up by the night sky behind me, she looked like the only thing I needed in the whole world; food and water? Nah. A big house, money, fame? I'll pass, thanks. But Sky, just plain old Sky with her cruelly funny jokes and wicked streak? I'll take all I can get.

"I love you, Zed," she said softly, and I froze "I don't need to wait to sort out my memories; I know I do." Everything was still for a second, then I spoke.

"Well, now." I cleared my throat and started again, not quite sure what to say "That's the first time you've said it to me face to face like this."

"I've told you before; I'm sure I have." She said, screwing her eyebrows together.

"No, you've hinted but you've never just come out with it." I grinned back. Oh, this is what I had been waiting for! All these months, helping Sky to adapt, come to terms with everything; her powers, a new school, a new country, a new accent, a new house – even me. Everything. All of that I thought I'd lost when she looked at me in the warehouse, fear screaming from every inch of her face when she set eyes on me. I thought it was over, destroyed, only to have it be the catalyst for our relationship. Funny how things turn out.

"I do, you know – love you, I mean. I'm a little shy so I don't say it easily."

"A little shy?" I laughed "Sky, you're possibly the shyest person I've ever met."

"I'm sorry." I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Don't be." I said "it's part of what I love about you. You never think anyone's going to like you and have this vaguely surprised expression when we all fall for you. It's cute." I poked the end of her nose and she wrinkled it, smiling.

"I don't want to be cute." She replied grumpily.

"I know, you want to be taken seriously." I said levelly, but I couldn't keep the laughter from my eyes "And I do – I swear."

"You don't – not about this." She disagreed, crossing her arms defiantly, her lip set.

"You don't believe me?"

"I can read emotion you know." She said, shaking her head.

"I may not have a pokerface but I can't believe that I'm transparent." I said laughingly.

"You don't understand." She said sombrely "It's my gift – I really can read what you're feeling. My gift – it's unlocked." I looked at her in shock, trying to process what she had just said; that night seemed to be one of ground-breaking moments for us; first I accidentally reveal Sky as my soulfinder to my whole family, then Sky says she loves me, and then she talks about her powers without flinching, frowning or even looking uncomfortable in the slightest. The more I thought about it, the more I got used to it, the more it seemed to just _fit_. It was just so – so – so _Sky_. So perfect.

"That's OK then, so you know that when I say I love you, I really mean it. You know you're my soulfinder." Can this night really be that perfect? For everything to click together just like that?

"Yes." _YES!_ "But I can tell if you lie to me too about other things. People have a shifty yellow cloud to them when they tell a fib." Ah, and the other shoe falls! But I don't care; because this is all I had ever hoped for, all of my dreams coming true in one perfect go.

"Oh, well now, that isn't fair." I said, but couldn't keep the grin from my face, the excited, elated wobble from my voice.

"You can see the future." She pointed out.

"Not all the time – and not so much with you now." I shot back. Sky smiled sheepishly.

"Then you'd better watch your step with me."

"You're enjoying having the advantage for once." I murmured, trailing my hand over her soft cheek.

"Yeah, I'm ahead of the curve, or whatever you say here." She rolled her eyes, once again seeming very British.

"God help us all." I nudged her over with my shoulder and stretched out beside her "When did you discover this?"

"In the warehouse. It was how I knew that you hadn't hurt me even though my brain was telling me you had." She paused, then took a deep breath and continued "Are you sure I never shot you – not even make-believe like that fake knife?" I groaned and turned my head away.

"Don't remind me of that. And yeah, I'm sure. It's not something I'm likely to forget now, is it?"

"I'm crazy, Zed." She said, and a scared waver made her voice tremble. She looked at me fearfully, like she was afraid I was going to run away. But for once, I had the right words to reply with.

"Uh-huh. And I'm crazy too – about you."


	20. Chapter 20: Author's Note

**Author note:** I know this is really annoying, but I have had no time whatsoever to write the next chapters! Christmas has been insane and our teachers don't believe in holidays, so I'm still working away – rest assured, this fic is my top priority so this is the first thing I'm going to be working on when I get my next slot of time! Yes, I am still writing it, I haven't given up, and I 100% accept any complaints coming my way; hang in there!


	21. Chapter 21: Remembering Sky

_Yay! here it is! i'm so sorry i couldn't do the chapters before - Christmas laziness and school work weighed on my back like a ton of bricks! Thank you to everyone who commented on past chapters and encouraged me to keep writing - you guys really gave me that kick off my arse that i needed. Sorry if this chapter is a little rusty, it's been awhile and feel free to comment on things you like, things you think could change, what you have for breakfast this morning, anything! I'm all ears. . . _

_Again, all genius must be attributed to the artist Joss Stirling as well as the fabulous Sky, Zed and all other characters, places and events._

_Enjoy! (P.S - get some snacks, this chapter's a whopper and in retrospect i really should have split it up, but it's here and that's all i care about)_

* * *

><p>I spent most of that night mulling over what Sky had said, or rather, what she <em>hadn't<em> said. She was scared. Any idiot could see that. But she had changed; the old Sky had refused to admit she loved me, to acknowledge her difference from normal humans. But _now_ – well, now, she had said both things, out loud, not just in her head. I closed my eyes and listened to those magical words again:

_"I love you, Zed."_ She'd said in a gentle, almost tender voice. It had all been prefect, from the star-strewn sky to her messy hair frizzing under my nose. My breathing depended; somewhere in my head, I knew I was dreaming, fast asleep, but for then everything was real. Sky was in front of me, lounging on a puffy sofa. To room was unfamiliar, but had such a feeling of safety and of _home_ that I didn't question it. There was a fat ginger cat on her lap, walking in circles trying to find a comfortable place to sit, and she was stroking it absently. She looked older; her face was slightly thinner and cheekbones were revealed beneath baby fat, and (though it was hard to tell) she looked a little taller and curvier.

"What are you just standing there for?" she laughed, and gestured towards me with the hand that had been stroking the ginger tom; the cat growled in annoyance and flopped down facing away from me "Come here!" I moved without hesitation at her command and sat down on the floor beside her head; she started fiddling with my unusually long hair with her free hand. It was a strange dream to have; maybe it was a vision? I wasn't sure. But it was nice. We were together, and that was all I wanted.

The dream shifted, and from then on I didn't sleep well – nightmares, fuelled by my own personal suspicions. I couldn't shift the feeling that something was wrong; when I spoke in Sky's mind or caught then tenor of her thoughts, they seemed different; slightly muffled and fuzzy. It was like there was a half-closed door between us, and layer that was tinting things ever so slightly differently. It made her mind feel alien and strange, like someone was pretending to be Sky. But that was impossible; I hadn't heard of anyone yet who could imitate another's mind, replicating the way they think and act and speak to themselves. My mind wouldn't shut down; scenarios and ideas whirled in my mind. But none of them would help if Sky went home with her parents in the morning – I knew I couldn't change her mind, so all I could do was hope she trusted us enough to stay.

I rolled over onto my other side and closed my eyes, shaking my head. _Sleep._

* * *

><p>I was jolted awake by an alarm clock.<p>

"Damn." I muttered – it had been a _really_ good dream – then remembered why I had set my alarm clock. It was when Sky's parents were set to pick her up. I dressed quickly, taking care to look neat for Simon and his over-protective streak the size of the Grand Canyon, and went into the hallway. Sky was just coming out the bathroom in my Mum's clothes; the shirt sleeves and jeans were rolled up about three feet and her feet were bare. She looked utterly drowned in material, and I laughed at the sight of her.

"Here," I handed her some woolly socks "these'll keep your feet warm." Was it just me, or was there a new connection since last night? She took them and leaned on my arm to put them on.

"Are you going home?" I grumbled reluctantly.

"No." She said, and I looked up in surprise.

"Are you sure?"

"I need help," she said steadily "help only you guys can give me; I'm not leaving until I get it. Sally and Simon can't change my mind on this."

"When have they ever been able to change your mind?" I joked with a small smile – _that's my girl _– "I might need some tips in the future."

"Yeah, right – that would mean you having to actually _talk_ to Simon, which I don't think either of you are up for yet."

"True." I nodded and Sky smiled triumphantly before the doorbell rung. We heard dad open the door and greet a silent Simon.

"Sky!" he yelled, even though he knew we knew Simon was here "Simon's here to pick you up." She took a deep breath and walked down – I followed as a silent source of support.

"Hi, love, ready to come home?" Simon asked immediately, fiddling with his keys impatiently.

"I'd like to stay a while, please." Sky started steadily "I think they can help me." her hand scrambled back for mine and I gripped it tightly. Sally touched the base of her throat in an action I hadn't come to recognise or associate with any kind of emotion yet, but the maternal worry in her eyes said it all.

"For how long?" Sally asked. Sky shrugged, but I could feel her reluctance to hurt them. I understood.

"Until I know if this is going to work." She shrugged, clinging to my hand like a lifeline. I noticed my Mum close her eyes, feeling out the future, and I copied her, frowning slightly when the outlook came out fuzzy and indistinct.

"I honestly think we can help Sky, Sally." Mum said with that knowing smile that had taunted me since I was a little boy doing things I shouldn't be "Please trust us. We're just a short drive away. You'll be able to reach her in a few minutes if you're worried about her." I could see my Mum's watertight logic working on Simon and Sally by their suddenly not-so-sure facial expressions.

"Love, are you sure?" Simon asked lowly to Sky.

"I'm sure." She nodded sharply, but Sally was less than convinced.

"But, darling, what can they do for you that we can't?" she begged, and I could see the desperation on her face; she couldn't help her Sky, her child, and that was worsened by the fact that someone else could. I suddenly felt very sorry for Sally and Simon, but pushed it away. The Brights weren't people to feel sorry for; they were friends.

"I don't know." Sky replied, standing straight and tall "It just feels right." Sky let go of my hand, rushing forwards to fling her arms around Sally.

"Ok, we'll try it. You've got your boy to take care of you then?" Sally smiled just a little and turned her gaze to me. I nodded a solemn nod back, understanding what that gaze was telling me; 'you take care of our Sky'.

"Yes, I have." And suddenly Sky was spearing me with the same gaze, only she was smiling. Simon and Sally reluctantly headed home (after asking another six times if Sky was _sure_), leaving Sky alone with us. All nine of us.

"I like your parents." I said in Sky's ear, so that only she could hear, slinging an arm around her "They keep on fighting your corner, don't they?"

"Yes. I'm lucky to have them." Sky said mildly, looking around herself self-consciously. She glanced at Uriel a lot – she hadn't met him yet, which was why it was even stranger that he and Will were staring fixatedly at Sky for across the kitchen as if she was about to sprout feathers and dance on the table at any second.

_"Give it a rest,"_ I said right into their minds, and their identical eyes turned to me _"you're scaring her."_ Simultaneously, Will and Uriel smiled and turned around, pointedly _not_ looking at Sky. Mum clapped her hands, and automatically all of my brother's heads swivelled in her direction.

"Right, my little ones, breakfast! Trace and Uriel – plates. Xav – knives and forks. Yves and Victor – you make the pancakes. Will – get the maple syrup." Mum dolled out orders with practiced ease, and the kitchen became an ordered flurry of activity, people dodging around each other to avoid crashes.

"What about Zed?" Yves moaned, getting a colourful mixing bowl out of the cupboard.

"He's got his hands full, comforting his girl, and is just as he should be." She smiled at us, standing frozen in the middle of the room with people running circles around us like a pair of statues "Sit down, you two." I tugged Sky over to the breakfast nook and pulled her onto my lap, watching the spectacle that any mealtime at the Benedict house was. Sky laughed a little at the sight of Victor in a pink apron, flipping pancakes, and watched in fascination as cutlery flew from the draws and landed neatly in Xav's hands. I wasn't watching my brothers show off, though – it was Sky who held my attention. She looked more alive and comfortable than I had ever seen her, even though a mist of doubt and hesitance remained in the way she sat and the let of her lips. One wild curl was already escaping her long plait, falling over her face, and I pushed it back for her, tucking it behind her ear and breathing in a deep breath. I smelled flowers, but I couldn't tell which – Sky always smelled nice. Sky didn't notice – she seemed enraptured by Trace levitating eggs, one by one, from the box. Suddenly, one of the eggs spluttered and veered violently our way. Sky uttered a shocked squeak and I pulled her down, making her duck just in time. The egg sailed over our heads, hitting the wall with a wet _fwack _and sliding lazily down to the floor. I stared around furiously – who had done that? Did they think it was funny, throwing eggs at my Sky? At my _Soulfinder_?

"Who did that?" Mum shrieked, suddenly looking much taller than her petite frame should, her eyes homing in on Xav "Xav? I will not have you throwing eggs at our guest!"

"It wasn't me." Xav denied snappily "Why do you always think it's my fault?"

"Because it usually is," Will said dryly, pushing him from behind and making the cutlery clatter loudly on the table.

"Who did it?" Mum repeated, looking at my brothers with eyes that could have burnt holes on metal, her jaw set.

"Whoever did it will have the rest of the eggs shoved down their neck." I growled, wrapping a protective arm around Sky; how could anyone think that was funny? And who would want to even do that to Sky? I felt my lips tighten in anger – whoever it was, I'd–

"Um. . . I think it was me." Sky confessed in a small voice, shrinking back into me just a little. My mouth fell open with a _pop_, and Sky looked at me with glittering blue eyes, wide with wonder.

"I was seeing you do stuff – and I wondered if I could do it too." She continued "I lassoed the egg." The silence was broken by Will guffawing, the tinkle of cutlery moving into place from the wave of his hand relieving the stony tension in the room. Before settling down in their places, the knives and forks bowed deeply to Sky. I was watching Sky curiously – this magical girl who always had the ability to shock me, no matter what. And she _loved me_. I felt a thrill in my belly all over again. _My Sky_.

"You saw?" Dad was asking "What does that mean?"

Sky blushed vividly "Um. . .well, moving things – that's like a white line. I suppose I'm sensing energy or something." She said modestly.

"She sees emotions too, Dad." I added "She can tell if you're lying." A few of my brothers froze for a second.

"Very useful." Victor mused, looking at Sky calculatively in a way that I didn't like.

"Healing is blue."Sky said, ignoring Victor "When Mrs Benedict dipped into the future she sort of faded a little. I'm not sure about the rest, but I think each power has its own identity."

_"What about telepathy?"_ Dad asked, projecting his words so that everyone could hear what he was saying. Sky flinched, and I rubbed her arm comfortingly. I was still worried about her; what had happened to her? _What had they done to her?_

"I can't see that," she replied out loud, like I expected "at least, I don't know what to look for."

"It takes the lowest energy of all the gifts when done close to the person you are communicating with. The signs might be too subtle to pick up." Dad explained. Sky started rubbing her temples, and I was reminded of when she contacted me from Vegas, the strain it had put on my mind and body to reach that little bit further so I could keep the connection, and the deep sense of pain I got from her.

_. . . where had I been when I did that? Was it the warehouse?_

"Don't think about it right now, Sky." I said, tugging her closer to me "I can tell it's hurting you." _And I promised nothing would ever hurt you again_, I added silently, remembering the vows I had made to myself and to Sky last night when I was alone staring at my ceiling, playing and replaying those three words over in my head. The sight of her, tied up in the warehouse, had haunted my vision all night and I'd had a fitful sleep, nightmares of bloody knives, stray bullets and Sky's screaming making a twisted haze in my mind.

"Why can't I remember?" she asked me quietly, her eyes pleading for me to have an answer. My mouth opened and closed for a second while I tried to think of what to say.

"That's what we're going to find out." Dad said firmly "But after breakfast."

"What about school?" Sky asked confusedly, like a good student.

"Family powwow – we get to skip classes." Yves grinned delightedly, sliding the first pancake in front of her.

"Like that day, back in September?" She confirmed, turning to me, and I wondered that she remembered and made a note of my absence, even from all that time ago; even when I was an utter jerk to her.

"Oh that." I nodded, thinking back to that very long day "Yeah. We were helping Trace hunt down the people who shot that family in the drugs deal."

"And these family powwows – you get to see what happened?"

"Yeah, but we get results," Trace said, sitting down at his place his own steaming pancake before him "We got the bas–" a quick glance at Mum had him quickly backtracking "son of a gun. He's up for trial early next year."

"You mustn't worry about us, Sky," I added, knowing what she was thinking as well as knowing that telling her not to worry won't help in the least "It's what we do."

"The family business." agreed Xav cheerily, drowning his pancake in maple syrup "The savant network as it should."

"And we're proud of it." Victor concluded, suddenly noticing his empty place "Where's mine?" a place came flying from behind him, stopping in front of him with a fresh pancake on it. I quickly slapped my hand over Sky's eyes.

"No lassoes." I told her mock-sternly.

"I promise," she laughed "No more experiments with food."

* * *

><p>Sky was happy over breakfast, but as the last traces of pancake disappeared she started to get more sober. By the end of it, everyone was feeling the seriousness of the moment. Dad quickly went out to check that everything was OK with the Ski lift, but came back almost as soon as he left.<p>

"We're all set," he announced, shaking the show off his boots "Let's do this in the family room." I took Sky's hands and led her to the family room – it was just a smallish space at the far end of the house that was just big enough to fit us all in. Sky didn't say a word and neither did I as the table was pushed out the way and cushions were set in a circle for everyone to sit on.

"We just want you to sit with Zed." Dad assured Sky, sitting cross-legged opposite us.

"What are you going to do?" she asked nervously, her posture as tight as a guitar string – _What have I let myself in for?_

"We're treating this like an investigation." Trace said, sitting next to Sky at her right hand "Which is appropriate because we believe something's happened to you as a result of a crime."

"I do feel like I've been brain-mugged." Sky admitted sheepishly, like she was scared of being laughed at. I sat next to her gravely; I didn't know what to think or what was going to happen, but I knew I was ready for answers. Nothing could drive me away, not now.

"Each of us is going to use our gift to read you – nothing invasive, just a touch to sense which is the strongest lead."Trace looked at me and I knew what he was going to ask "I'm gonna need to hold your hand if Zed will let go – I have to be in contact with my subject to allow my gift to work. I should be able to tell where you've been recently – before the warehouse. You don't have to remember; if you were physically there I should be able to track you. Wonder boy here, as the seventh son, he gets to channel it all as he's the most powerful of us." That was the bit I was scared about – the channelling. It was by far the worst bit of my job, and I wasn't looking forward to spying on Sky's past.

"Is that true?" Sky asked, staring up at me with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I'm like the screen to display information. Compare the results. I can see what everyone else is seeing." I explained a little too casually.

"And he doesn't even need batteries." Will interrupted, collapsing on Sky's other side. My lips twitched at his joke, but couldn't bring myself to smile. Oh, the darkness I had seen – the things some people did, just because they could, over love and hate, anguish and honesty. It took be back to the time before Sky arrived; the time when I could feel myself slipping away, mixed and jumbled up with everything I saw and turning every direction at once, like blind man lost in a forest, not wanting to trip or fall or get prickled by the branches. Falling into the ugliness. I snapped back to myself with the sound of cushions moving and saw Uriel nudge Will out the way.

"Hi, Sky, we've not met properly yet. I'm the only sensible one in the family." He greeted warmly. I knew Sky's feelings about Uriel – about his gifts, that is.

"I can see that."

"My gift is to read memories, anything to do with the past. I know you're afraid I might blurt out your secrets, but you mustn't worry: I can't force you to show me the past, I can only open doors which you unlock." He said, holding her eyes steadily.

"I understand." Sky relaxed completely, leaning into my chest as she sat between my legs, her hand resting lightly in Trace's "And if I want to keep the door closed?"

"Then you do." Uriel nodded "But we think that you need to start building up a complete picture of everything that's happened to you to understand what's real and what you've imagined." Sky frowned but didn't say anything.

"It's like music, Sky," I said from behind her "Orchestrating the score one instrument at a time. You've been running on the melody for a while now and we think you've been leaving out the bass, or the foundation notes."

"You mean, about what happened what I was little?"

"Yeah." I nodded, resting my chin on her head "It's there." For a second, her eyes went a little but unfocused, but before I could comment they snapped back again.

"We think that when you've seen what's behind all your doors, you'll find it easier to close them on others, stop people reading you so easily. In turn, it should give you control over the more recent memories, like discovering the key pieces in a puzzle." Sky's resolve seemed to solidify at the prospect of a light at the end of a tunnel.

"OK, let's sort me out." She nodded one firm nod as Mum drew the curtains and candles flared into life with a click of Yves' fingers, filling the room with the thick, hazy smell of vanilla and cinnamon. No one spoke – the only sound was that of deep breaths and muffled screams of pleasure from the slopes, the rustle of trees, the rumble of the cable car. The rest of the world seemed somehow detached from us and the room, like we had created a delicate bubble between us and them. I held Sky close, my arms looped around her waist and clasped over her bellybutton, concentrating on the feel of her to keep me calm. My family's eyes were closed as they each used their gifts to ensure Sky's welfare, and I lazily closed mine as my inner eye brought up pictures in my mind from what they were seeing.

"Sky, there's nothing medically wrong with you – I can see no sign of mental illness, though I could feel your distress." I rubbed the nape of Sky's neck supportingly – if I wasn't in such a trance-like state I would have been relieved.

"Not crazy after all." I whispered to her.

"I can't read the future clearly." Mum spoke next "There are many possible paths leading from this moment."

"But I know where she's been recently," Trace continued "She's been in a room in a first class hotel – satin sheets, lots of glass, you touched something made from white leather and a deep pile carpet." I could see them all, in my head – the leather glowing white which mean it wasn't a child-friendly room, the luxurious sheets and glass creating the feel of opulence. I saw it from Sky's eyes, as they were her memories, and saw her hand reach out as if it were my own to stroke the leather tentatively "It is safe to say you were held somewhere before you ended up in the warehouse. If we got hold of the clothes you were wearing, I could probably tell you more."

"The threat's not gone." Dad said, making my stomach sink to my shoes.

"I sense more than one person looking for you, Sky." Will agreed. Sky strained to turn her head my way.

"Did you get all that too?"

"Uh-huh." I nodded, not opening my eyes "I also got that the two in the warehouse were the two who shot us in the woods that day. O'Halloran was a savant, extraordinarily good a shielding. I wondered if that was why I could feel a layer in your mind – something alien. Did you see that, Uriel?"

Uriel patted Sky's knee comfortingly "Yes, and I think I know what it is even if I don't know how it got there. Sky, your parents are artists, aren't they?"

Sky nodded.

"You know what sometimes happens to Old Masters? Someone takes them and paints over the surface and you have to strip off a layer to get back to the original? Well, someone had done something similar to your memories." He explained perkily.

"So what's the original and what's the forgery?" Sky asked.

"That's where we need to take it back to the base."

"Will everyone see?" she asked timidly.

"No, just Zed, me, and you. And we won't tell anyone unless you want us to." Uriel replied tenderly.

_. . . don't want to do this – but you have to, Sky._

"Don't be frightened." I whispered "I'll be there with you."

"Ok." She took a deep breath "Ok. So what do I do?"

"Just relax and let me in." Uriel replied simply. With another deep breath I became Sky's sole support and it began. Uriel slowly entered her mind and she let him examine her memories – I saw scenes of Sky when she was just a tiny thing, meeting Sally and Simon for the first time, wrapped up in a shell, and how music had acted as a therapy for her. Those ones weren't buried and Uriel viewed them without trouble from Sky's emotions – it was when he started to go back further that Sky started to panic.

_"Don't fight,"_ I told her soothingly _"he's not going to hurt you."_ I knew Sky's fear didn't lay in my brother – it lay in her past, the murky area she had been hiding from all her life.

_"Nothing we see there will make us feel any different about you,"_ I reassured. I could feel Xav working to reduce Sky's racing pulse, and the rest of my family calming her so that we could do our work. With one big push, Sky opened the door for Uriel. A waterfall of images streamed from that black zone.

A cold night. Seething anger in a car.

"I've had as much as I can take of this kid. She ruins everything!" a beating the steering wheel while a gaunt woman fixed her make-up in the mirror. She looked slightly like Sky in the curve of her jaw and round of her nose, but her skin was an unhealthy colour and texture – she was malnourished, and no amount of foundation could hide the ugly red blotches and blemishes.

"What can I do? I'm the only family she has." The woman puckered her lips and made kissing noises as she slapped on another layer of blood-red lipstick that was too dark for her; it made her skin look even more sickly.

A change of scene. A different set of lips, bubblegum pink and gentle, kissing Sky's cheek, though if felt like the woman was kissing mine – I felt everything Sky had felt, seen everything she'd seen. I felt a connection between Red Lips and mummy – they were sisters. Mummy smelled like soft rose perfume and had a silvery laugh. Her long fair hair brushed my tummy when she leant over to tickle me. I giggled, hearing the infantile sound come from my lips like a ring of bells.

A doorbell rings.

"Stay here, poppet." She puts up the side of the travel cot, and I recognise a strange, sing-song accent from her. A rumbling voice comes from the corridor; this one doesn't sound sing-songy. Daddy. We don't want him to find us. Why is he here? I clutch my lop-eared rabbit tight to my chest and listen closely, fearing every breath.

"But you're not my soulfinder, Ian – we both know that. Miguel is. I'm going to him and you can't stop me!" Mummy's voice screeches – it was ugly, not like that special tone she usually uses on me. She's cross – really, _really_ cross – and scared. I feel scared.

"What about the child? What about me? You can't leave England with her!" the snarl came back.

"You never wanted her before – you're just jealous!"

"That's not true. I'm not letting you do this."

"I have to be with him. You of all people should understand."

"Go then. But I'll take my daughter with me." the voices come nearer with every breath. I whimper, seeing great swirls of anger and love dance around the room – _so this is what it's like_, some part of me thinks musingly. A shadowy tall man plucks me from my bed and crushes me to his chest. The mouse night-light explodes – bulb fragments fly – I flinch.

"Mouse!" I scream. Mummy shakes with anger.

"You lost Di too young – lost your soulfinder – and I'm really, really sorry, Ian. But against all the odds, I found mine after I'd given up and I have to go to him. Now just put her down!" Daddy squeezes me tighter – he's shaking too.

"Why should I be the one left with nothing, Franny? I won't stand for it." Mummy moves to take me back, and he throws his hand out – my books fly off the shelf and bombard her, knocking her sideways. I smell smoke – the carpet's on fire – I sob.

"Stop it, Franny. You'll set the whole bloody house on fire!"

"You're not taking her from me!" Mummy's temper flares as she struggles to her feet – there is fire in her eyes – my bed bursts into flames "I won't leave my baby behind." She reaches out, tugging on my clothes. The burning bed spins in the air and slams into her, throwing her to the wall and making her scream.

"Mummy!" I screw my eyes shut.

That was the last time I saw them.

The scene changes again. Auntie Red Lips is collecting me from the hospital. I was the only survivor of the fire – miraculously floated out the window by unseen forces and found curled up on the dew-damp grass, curled into a tight little ball. We were living in a dingy flat, and my dress was filthy, my whole body wrecked with cold. No amount of experience could get me used to the feeling of being hungry and cold. The top of my head doesn't even reach the door handles, and loud music was booming from the main room; I'd been told keep out of the way, so I was hiding in the hallway.

"Don't look at me like that!" the driver man snaps; another man hovers at his shoulder, looking at me with blank eyes. I scurry back, knowing that slowness was punished with the sharp heel of the boot biting into my flesh. I push myself against the wall, trying to pretend I wasn't there, that I was invisible. A package passed between the two men and money passed in exchange.

"He cheated you," I whisper – I don't know why. I just did. The second man freezes and kneels down beside me. He reeks of fried onion and staleness.

"What did you say, little chicky?" he asks with amusement in his eyes – he was laughing at me.

"He lied." I explain "He's pleased he tricked you." I rock to and fro, knowing I would be punished but also knowing that He would be too.

"Hey," He said, smiling insincerely "You're listening to my girlfriend's little brat? What she know about anything?" Onion man took the package from his pocket and squeezed it between his thumb and finger, the smile vanished in the deep grooves of his face.

"This pure?"

"One hundred per cent. I give you my word." _Like your word is worth shit_ – I thought grimly, looking at the Man from my own eyes for a second before immersing myself in Sky's memories again, becoming Sky.

"He's lying." I repeat; the Man was covered in a repulsive yellow haze with the texture of gone-off milk.

Onion man holds out the bag.

"Thanks chicky. I want my money back. Your word isn't worth fifty quid." The Man hands the money back, swearing his innocence the whole time.

Next came pain.

Later, I heard him telling the doctor how I'd fallen down the stairs and broken my arm. I was clumsy. A lie. He'd got angry with me.

A shift, and I'm in the car again. Another day. Another journey. Another escape, before people got too interested in us. Auntie Red Lips is jittery. She thinks He is going to ditch her because of me. She doesn't like me either. I see too much, she says. Like a witch. Like her stupid, dead half-sister.

"We could give her to the social services in Bristol, say we can't cope." Red Lips glares at me, and I don't doubt her resolve. She'd do it.

"First rule – never let the authorities even know we exist. We're not going back to Bristol – we've moved on." He speeds past another car, cutting it up in an angry blare of horns.

"Since when, Phil?"

"Since the police busted the Cricketer's Arms."

I gaze out the window at the blue sign – it had a little white plane symbol at the top. The road is going somewhere , taking off on a jumbo jet. I wish I could. I start to sing: _Leaving on a jet plane. . ._

"That's it!" the Man swerves, taking us off the road and into a service station "We're dumping this freak here."

"What!" Red Lips glances across at him in bewilderment. Slimy green malice gloops around the Man. Her colours are dark purple, with just a hint of green. My stomach churned just looking at them. I look at my stained, grubby shorts instead.

"You're joking, right?"

"Wrong. I'm leaving her here. You can either stay with her or come with me. Your choice."

"Bloody hell, Phil, I can't just dump her!" we pull up in an empty space in the car park, and He glances around nervously.

"Why not? I can't operate with her around. Some do-gooder will find her. She'll be their problem, Jo, not ours. She's just Franny's mistake. She should've got rid of her. She's nothing to do with you – with us." He leans over and kisses her, and as he does his aura becomes that horrid yellow again – he's lying. Red Lips bites her lip, leaving a block of red on her teeth.

"All right, all right, give me a moment. God, I need a drink. We won't be traced?" he shrugged in response.

"Car plates are false. If we don't get out, we won't be caught on camera. No one in England knows her. Parents died in Dublin – unless they think to check abroad, she's nobody. Who's gunna recognise her after all this time? She's not even got the accent."

"So we leave her and someone else looks after her. She doesn't get hurt." Auntie tried to persuade herself that she was doing the right thing.

"But she will if I have to come back for her. She'd bad for us – ruining what we've got."

The woman nods with a deep courage-producing breath "Let's do it."

"We just need a chance to get clear." The man turns and grabs the front of my T-shirt "Listen, freak, you be quiet, no fuss, or we'll come back and get you. Understand?" I nod. I'm so scared I think I might wet myself. His lights pulse violent red, just like before he hits me. He reaches over and opens the door.

"Now get out and sit over there. Don't cause trouble." He instructs. I undo my belt, used to looking after myself.

"Are you sure about this, Phil?" Red Lips whines. He doesn't answer, just pulls the door shut. The next thing I hear is the squeal of car tires as he accelerates away.

I sit down and count daisies.

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><p>I open my eyes, and this time I'm not in a damp-ridden flat or in a musky car, but in the family room with the smell of vanilla and Cinnamon, Sky clutched in my arms, leaning all her weight on me. Her skin is cold, and I hug her tighter. If one tiny thing had gone wrong – if her parents hadn't thought to float her to safety during the fire, or her Aunt's boyfriend had kicker her from a different angle, if she had landed on her neck and not her arm when she fell down the stairs. . . it made chills dance up my spine just thinking about it. I buried my face in Sky's silken hair, suddenly incredibly thankful that she was here, with me, in that dark little backroom that doubles as a game room, sitting on lumpy cushions with my family watching. My hands shook with anger – she was betrayed by her family, abused and cast out on the mercy of the world because they couldn't be bothered. I was also incredibly thankful that Phil had abandoned her when he did – I couldn't help the feeling that another hour in his company and Sky would be dead; abandoning her was the best thing those low-lives ever did.<p>

"You saw that?" she whispered, not daring to look at me. She was shaking too.

"Yeah." I replied, my voice unusually husky "Thank God they dumped you before he killed you." I massaged her head with my chin, the thin hairs catching on my stubble. I didn't have time to shave that morning, too busy thinking of Sky and her parents.

"I still don't know who I am. I don't think they ever said a name." She mused quietly.

"A truth-teller don't go down too well in the house of a dealer." I wrapped my hands around hers, pushing gently on her palms to relax her clenched fists "I've seen scum like that before working for Trace and Victor. You were lucky to get out."

"I spoiled things for Phil big time – that man was his best customer. I did that more than once."

"And he hurt you more than once." Sky cringed, and I rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"I think so." She muttered. My nostrils flared and my fists clenched in fury at this unknown person who had hurt my Sky. If I ever met him, I'd kill him.

"I'd like to get to him, make him feel what he did to you."

"He was an evil man, using my aunt. She was mostly OK – but couldn't be bothered with me. I don't suppose they're still together." Sky said reflectively, looking at our still clasped hands, only this time mine were clenched.

"They're probably both dead. Drugs and dealing don't make for long happy lives." Uriel said matter-of-factly. Sky was sagged against me, and I could read the exhaustion in every inch of her body. I didn't dare but in to what she was thinking; after all that she had been though, she deserved the privacy of her mind, like a sanctuary. She was exhausted – I knew this because _I_ was exhausted, and it wasn't even _my_ past we had been scouring out, not _my_ family.

"You've seen enough," I said, aiming to relieve at least one of her potential fears "We don't expect you to remember everything right away."

"But we've found the foundation," Uriel added "We can build on that." Sky looked around the circle of honest faces, echoing what we had said without the use of words. I could tell Victor and Trace were impatient to get more info, but they would have to wait. I had to care for my soulfinder.

"You need a break." Trace read my expression through the darkness "Take the girl snowboarding, Zed, we'll make sure you're safe." With a visible effort, Sky sat up.

"By break, do you mean break a leg, because that's what's going to happen if I try to board." She announced blankly. Trace laughed, regarding me fondly.

"No, Sky, I don't. He'll take good care of you."

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><p><strong><em>Dun dun duuuhhhh! ok, so there it is, and i promise it won't be another million months before i upload again - cross my heart. So here's a question: should i do a fic about life after Finding Sky for Zed and Sky? Get back to me on that one. . .<em> **


	22. Chapter 22: Showing Off to Sky

_Sorry this chapter's a little short, but i thought it better than not uploading anything! This is a pretty long chapter too, so i thought it best to cut it back a bit._

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><p>I took a deep breath when I stepped outside, feeling the cold air fill my lungs and slide over my tongue, cool and crisp as the untouched slopes of white surrounding us. I could feel Sky's relief at being outside as well; she had staggered around the house with the distinct look of someone not seeing what everyone else was. Now, amidst the sparkling frost and glowing snow, she looked alive again, every detail of her face animated and just <em>there<em>. She had borrowed a snow suit from my Mum, and it made her look like a toddler, packed up to her chin in insulating (and, I might add, bright pink) material. She looked adorable.

"Nursery slopes?" she asked hopefully. Her breath puffed out in a cloud if ice crystals in front of her, and her little nose was bright pink.

"No," I shook my head gravely "too many people." I studied the mountain, shading my eyes with my forearm. In my peripheral vision, I could see a slightly stunned-looking Sky skim her eyes over my body. My lips twitched in a smile I couldn't quite hide, so I let it burst into a full-out grin and wiggled my eyebrows. "Like what you see?"

Sky elbowed me in the ribs playfully "Shut up! You really need to work on that humility thing." I laughed, letting my voice boom over the slopes – I imagined it rolling in great waves over the slopes, making everything look rose-tinted and sweet. It was how I saw everything when I was with Sky.

"I will – if you'll promise to teach me." I teased back.

"I think you're a lost cause." This time Sky's laughter joined mine, and together we turned the cold slopes into a veritable Garden of Eden with the power of our voices. I hugged her close to my side.

"So, Sky, are you ready? Because we're going up. There's a peaceful place. I was going take you there that day we got shot at in the woods, but I think it's even better in winter." I said excitedly, picturing the place in my mind. As usual, whenever I pictured a place in my mind, there was Sky, smiling in the foreground. "We'll catch the lift up and walk down to it." The walk was quiet and for the first time in a long, _long_ time I felt we had some privacy. Some alone time. I led her away into the woods as soon as I could, away from the business of the runs.

"Is this a good idea?" Sky asked as sound sounds of the skiers got more distant "You know what happened last time we went into the forest." Yeah I knew – I couldn't get the image of her wide, terrified eyes from my mind, the sounds of her screams still making my ears ring and the feel of my elbow colliding with her eye still tingling against my skin. I rubbed her arm reassuringly, even though I think it was more for my benefit than hers.

"Dad and Mum are holding a barrier around the place. Trace, Vick and Will are on lookout. We should be fine." I say.

"A mind barrier?"

"Yeah, it sends people away, makes them think they left the headlights on or got to meet someone in town. Which reminds me: how did you get through ours last night?" we had all felt the breach, all had that half-second of gut-wrenching panic, even though logic told us it was impossible. And Sky was so small.

She shrugged "I felt it, but I was too desperate to care."

"You shouldn't have been able to do that." I shook my head "It was why Trace and Vick were so suspicious of you just turning up out of the blue."

"Maybe this barrier isn't as strong as you'd like to think." She reasoned, but she was staring straight ahead and her lips were tight.

"Maybe you're stronger than we realise." I knew she didn't want to hear it, but I said it anyway "We'll have to find out."

"Not just now, please."

"No, not now." I agreed "This is playtime." Right on cue, we broke into the open and there it was, my beauty spot. The ground swept away in a smooth, elegant curve, like a 'J', and the mountains gave the perfect sense of protection to our hidden, stolen moments.

"Wow." Sky muttered.

"Great, isn't it? Not many people come here because it heads nowhere, but I like it. You can do some extreme boarding here without pesky skiers like my brother getting in the road."

"I'm not ready for extreme."

"I know. We can do slow and gentle too." I flipped my board down with practiced ease "Been surfing?" Sky laughed in response.

"You don't know much about London, do you? We're not exactly beach babes in Richmond."

I grin "So what did you do all day?"

"We have a deer park. You can go riding. And there's the Thames if you like rowing." I didn't believe her.

"Spill it."

"I. . . er. . .shopped. I've got an Olympic gold in that. And I had my music, of course." She smiled shyly.

"Time to broaden your horizons. Take a run then slide."

"What?" she looked confused and totally lost.

"Trust me, just do it." She made a face, but tried anyway. It was clumsy, but I saw what I needed to see.

"OK, so you lead with your right foot." I stated, looking at her closely.

"You can tell that how?"

"It's the foot you chose to slide with." I said obviously, smiling slightly "Now, I'll get you in the right stance." I poked the board into position and pointed to her where she should put her feet. Then I put my arm around her waist, trying to ignore how good her hips felt below my hands, and rocked her to and fro. "It's about balance."

"This is just an excuse to get your hands on me." she hummed.

"I know. Great, isn't it?" Sky was better than I had expected – she fell over and slipped and crashed, like any other learner, but her technique wasn't bad and I could see potential. To my delight, she was better on board than she was on skis.

"Let me see you do your thing, Hot Stuff." She finally teased after we ended the 'session'.

"OK, Short Stuff." I teased right back "Make yourself comfortable over there and don't move. I'm gonna show you how it's done. I've just got to go up the hill some." I watched until she had settled by a far-off cliff shelter where the snow wasn't too thick and she wouldn't get cold or in the way. Then I ran up the hill, so far up I couldn't see Sky anymore, and then I went higher, just to get that extra boost. I knew I was showing off – but that didn't stop me. Call it vanity, or call it a display of strength, I don't care, but I was going to show Sky just what I could do. I felt that same thrill of excitement as I charged down the hill, gaining speed by the millisecond, and remembered to keep my feet and body in that perfect balance. And then, I exploded off the hillside.

"Woo-ee!" I yelled as I shot over the top of Sky. I was going too fast to slow down too quickly, so it took a long time to trudge back up to Sky, and I wanted to catch my breath again so that my acrobatics looked even more impressive.

"Show-off!" she accused as soon as she was in ear-shot, but it was followed by her infectious laugh. I grinned my way back to her.

"What d'ya think?" I called back.

"Hmm." She looked at her nailed in a bored fashion "Passable."

"Passable! That was perfect." I objected.

"You see, this other guy came by and did a somersault. I gave him a ten." I threw my board down and tackled her to the floor.

"I want a ten too." I demanded.

"Uh-uh. Not without a triple axel."

"That's skating, you dork." I laughed – I was hyper-aware that we were sharing the same air, the same heat. The same love.

"My guy, he did one of those on the way back. Got maximum points." She said factually, and I growled into her neck.

"I'm your guy. Admit it: there was no one else here."

Sky giggled "Still can't give you a ten for that jump."

"How about I try and bribe you?" I traced a trail of kisses from her neck to her lips "So? How did I do?" I was too focused on her body, tender and oh-so-soft below mine, and the fire in her eyes to notice her hand curl around the snow by our sides.

"Hmm, let me think. It seems to me. . . you still need practice!" the only warning I got was the mischievous glint in her eyes before white-hot cold was thrust down my back. I squawked in a way I was sure I had never squawked before.

"Right, this is war!" I yelled, rolling her over, but she wriggled free, breathless with laughter. She started running, but I snagged her round the waist after a few steps and lifted her off her feet. "It's the snowdrift for you." I found a deep patch of snow and dumped her in before she could escape again.

"All the more ammunition!" she yelled delightedly, and threw a snowball right at my face. With a little concentration, I made the snowball veer in mid-air and hit her in the nose.

"You cheater!" she cried in astonishment. I was weak with laugher at her shocked expression.

"That does it! Two can play at this game." The branch above me buckled and an avalanche of snow rained down upon me. Sky brushed her hands casually "Take that!"

I shook the snow from my hat "I should never have told you about being a savant. You're dangerous."

Sky leapt into the air, clapping her hands like a child "I'm dangerous – I'm dangerous!" she sang "Woo-hoo, I'm dangerous!"

"But not yet skilled!" I retorted, and gave the snow she was standing on a mental push. She fell on her back and I went to kneel over her, throwing a snowball up into the air and catching it again threateningly.

"So what was that about me snowboarding?" I raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"Definitely a ten. No, an eleven." She smiled and I chuckled, throwing the ball away.

"Good. I'm glad you've seen reason."


	23. Chapter 23: Christmas Choir with Sky

Oh my goodness, you will never guess what's happened? I bought 'Stealing Phoenix'! I'm only a few chapters in, but i definitely want to do a Yves' POV for that. Ok, so here's the next chapter, and i added a little extra because i was intrigued and thought we all deserve a little more Zed insight. So enjoy and don't forget to review!

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><p>When we came back home, Sky wandered off on her own, the tenor of her thoughts brooding and ever so slightly distressed. I let her go – I didn't want to suffocate her, and I needed to learn when to let go anyway; there would be times in our future where Sky would need some me-time. So I retreated into my bedroom, lying back on my bed and letting my mind wander. I tried to stay away from Sky's thoughts, concentrating on Mum, cooking in the kitchen, or taking peeks into the adrenaline-filled future (because no matter how many times you do it, it never stops being cool to be able to see what's coming). I kept track of where she was, always, just to make sure, just to check –<p>

I was interrupted by a tentative knock on my door, and looked up in shock. No one ever knocked in this house – they just barged in whenever they wanted, or used telepathy so that you couldn't ignore them.

"Come in." I called carefully, fearing I was just going to be the victim of a terrible practical joke. I saw nothing in the future, but I could never be sure with my brothers. Xav peeked his head around the corner, then stepped in, followed by Yves, Will and Uriel.

"What's going on?" I asked, then my heart skipped a beat and I sat up straight from where I had been lounging on my bed "Oh God – is it Sky? Has something happened?" I hadn't felt anything through our bond – was this more Savant trickery, numbing my mind to her? I was really starting to hate Savants – I could see why Sky couldn't trust us. Was it her memory? Or maybe –

"No – Sky's fine." Yves reassured "Sleeping like a baby. We just" – he cleared his throat (_ahem_) – "came to ask about" – _ahem, ahem_ – "you know, about –"

"Oh, get on with it, Yves!" I interrupted, rolling my eyes to myself "It can't be _that_ bad."

"We came to ask about Sky." Uriel stated blankly "About what it's like to have her – to have your Soulfinder."

"Ahhh," I made the sound almost without realising, leaning back onto my hands with my legs hanging over the end of the bed "Why don't you ask Mum and Dad?"

"We have, remember?" Uriel said "They just gave me this mumbo-jumbo about sharing a heartbeat, thinking as one, yada, yada, yada. But we wanna _know_, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it." I sighed, and leaned forwards on my knees, thinking. My brothers settled down too, sitting on chairs and on the floor like kids gathering around their grandfather for story time "It's hard to. . . put it into words. It's like – it's like walking into a room full of girls and immediately knowing you don't fit in. But then she comes along, and suddenly everything fits; with her, I don't feel so left out."

"Are you saying you're a girl in a guy's body?" Will joked with a wicked grin "Someone should tell Sky." I chose to ignore him. For now.

"I feel," I continued, not looking in any of their faces "like if I have her, I have everything I'll ever need; food, water, warmth, shelter? They are her. Sky is my food, my water, my warmth and shelter. And without her, I have nothing. Without her, I'm just a blind man, stumbling around in the dark." I blinked, suddenly very aware of my little audience. I think I had been speaking to myself; over the time that we had been together, I hadn't really had a chance to really _think_ about what Sky was to me. I was too busy worrying about what I was _without_ her.

"And when you touch there's an electric spark that feels like a million fireworks, blah, blah, blah." Will finished, rolling his eyes "We know that – we don't want lovey-dovey metaphors, we want details! Examples." I filled my cheeks with air and let it out slowly.

"Like what?"

"What's it like with her compared to other girls?" Xav piped up the courage to ask.

"No comparison. You know that feeling when you catch a cute girl's eye in the corridor and she smiles at you?" they nodded eagerly "Feels good, right?" again, they nodded eagerly "Well when Sky smiles at me, it's about ten times that feeling. In that second she smiles at me, she is the most important thing in my life; making her smile again and again and again is my only aim. And I'd do anything for it." My voice hardened with threat – not at them, but at the world. _You dare hurt my Sky and you will _pay.

"I'm sorry." Yves finally said after a long pause as they all took it in.

"For what?" I asked, even though I knew already.

"That all this happened to you, and to Sky; that you had to watch her suffer and not want to see you and everything. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I said hoarsely "I would gladly suffer a million times this if it meant Sky would be safe. And we're together – that's more than I hoped for." I felt slightly self-conscious revealing so much to my brothers, but I owed them the truth and answers to their questions.

"Can you" – _ahem_ – "can you feel her, now? Can you feel Sky?"

"Yes." I replied immediately – when we were apart, there was always some part of me keeping track of her, making sure she was safe and keeping her close to me. If this was selfishness, then I was Mr All-About-Me "Always. I can always feel her, even when she's inches away from me."

"What is she feeling right now?" Will challenged, as if I was lying.

"It doesn't always work like that." I countered "At the moment she's thinking – brooding. I can't tell you how she feels."

"Why not?" Uriel asked, and I speared him with my gaze.

"Because it's rude." I said steadily, then frowned, noticing something "But there's a haze in her head. Something is troubling her mind. A presence, and cloud. It's still there, just. It scares me." I snapped back to the present. Will, Xav, Yves and Uriel were staring at me. I shook my head, as if that could send my dark thoughts flying from my ears "Is that it? I need to. . . do something."

"Dream away, little Zeddie." Will suddenly grinned, and I dodged as he tried to ruffle my hair "It's been a long day for everyone; enjoy your quiet time while you have it, because this isn't over. And, er, thanks, Zed."

"No problem." I smiled and nodded, feeling awkward "You'll know what I mean when you get your soulfinder."

"Yeah, if." Shrugged Will sourly.

"No." I corrected, gripping his arms "_When_. After everything I know about Sky, her past and how minute the chances of her coming to just the right part of America and meeting me were, I believe that _anyone_ can find their soulfinder. Even a stupid moron like you." I joked a little, punching him lightly in the stomach. Will smiled tightly and left without a word. As the others filed out, each shooting me a thanking smile, I wondered where Vic was. I knew this was hard on him, as the oldest. He was running out of time.

I checked the small clock on my bedside table and decided Sky had been mulling on her past long enough. Takeaway cup in hand, hoping the sugar in the hot chocolate would disturb her from my overbearing clinginess, I found her at the back of the house by the woods where we had been shot at. I wondered if she had come here consciously, or something in her head was leading her to the place where this mess had began without her realising.

"Sky, are you all right?" I called, the memory of that funny haze around her mind fresh in _my_ mind.

"I'm OK. Just thinking." I knew that 'just thinking'. It was the 'just thinking' that girl used when they were thinking _too _much, when they were so wrapped up in their own heads that they couldn't bear to use their mouths. I handed her the takeaway cup, and she took it eagerly.

"You've done enough of that." I said "Here, I made you a hot chocolate. Not as good as the cafe's, I know, but it should warm you up."

"Thanks. I need chocolate right now." Pleased with my correct judgement, I took her elbow and steered her towards the house.

"Did you know that chocolate had special chemicals in it to make you feel happy?"

"I don't need an excuse for chocolate." Sky hummed, taking a sip and glancing at me while I tried not to burst out laughing. If Sky was made of chocolate I would be scared she would start eating herself "And you, have you been sneaking some of the same chemicals?"

"Hmm?"

"'Cause you look happy." I hadn't realised I'd looked sad before.

"No, not chocolate," I laughed "just you. That's what being a soulfinder is all about – you're my happiness shot." For a second, I thought I saw something falter in her eyes, but then it was gone, and she beamed up at me in a way that reassured me I had just been seeing things.

That evening, with the whole family at home (Sky included) we started decorating the house for Christmas. Sky gaped in open admiration as we rolled out boxes and boxes of tinsel, silver bells and every other decoration possible from the attic.

"You take this seriously, don't you?" she asked wonderingly, holding a delicate glass bauble in front of her eyes with the ends of her lips turned down.

"Of course, Sky," Mum said "we collect as we travel. My family in the Savant Net, they send me special decorations to add to it each year. It would be an insult to the giver if we did not use them." That same explanation was the reason why, at Christmas, the Benedict house looked like Santa Claus had exploded in it every single year, but somehow we always had enough space for everything. Sky looked to me and I rolled my eyes.

"Mum doesn't think one decoration enough when ten will do. You'll think you're standing in the Christmas department of Macy's by the time we finish." While Sky helped with the decorating (she really had no eye for interior design, and I saw Mum go back and rearrange her decorations when she wasn't looking more than once), we 'men' went out and cut down the tree we had dubbed Mr Santa since summer, when we had decided which tree would be the main attraction for that year. It was the perfect height, and all of us were needed to haul it to the house. When all the appropriate cables and spare bulbs had been found (or not found, but managed without), we put the baubles on the tree, me with Sky on my back so she could reach the upper branches. All the while, Mum told story after story of each decoration, her voice blending into the background like lounge music.

"Now we have the carols!" she sang, coming in with a tray of mulled wine, hot chocolate for Sky and sweet cinnamon biscuits. Trace groaned and whined, but he smiled all the while. Everyone knew that Trace couldn't carry a tune, but it didn't stop him from belting out albums' worth of songs in the shower. This was mu favourite bit, when the dysfunctional Benedict family tuned up their instruments, 'ooh'ed and 'eehh'ed their voices into warmth, and made music together. I leapt up the stairs three at a time to retrieve my guitar, returning before Dad had finished testing his violin, and with Uriel's flute to complete the trinity we ran through the well-worn classics, being sure to let every finishing note linger and shiver in the air like snow falling on a still night. I peeked at Sky; she switched between staring at me and Uriel with wide, haunted eyes.

"We need a vocalist." Uriel announced, like he always did "Trace?"

We all laughed.

"Sure, if you want to spoil the moment." He joked, getting up before I leapt on him and lightly wrestled him down again.

"Sky?" Yves suggested, and suddenly all eyes were on her. Her mouth flapped open and closed for a second like a fish, before she shook her head firmly.

"I don't sing." She said, as if she was telling someone she couldn't save their life.

"You're really musical – I played with you, remember?" Yves pressed.

"I don't sing." She repeated, panic flashing in her eyes. Uriel's eyes drooped closed a little.

"You did." He reminded her.

"Not any more."

"Why not, Sky?" I asked softly "That's behind you now. You've looked at the memories and can put them away. Today's a new start." Mum, sensing that we were heading down a very un-Christmassy vein, interrupted with the tray of biscuits.

"Leave the poor girl alone, you three." She tutted "No one has to sing if they don't want to."

"Come on, I'll sing with you." I smiled lazily, holding out my hand to her.

"We'll all sing." Uriel suggested hopefully "'Joy to the World'?"

"I'll play my sax." Sky compromised, running off to fetch the instrument before we could object. Together, we turned my family into a choir worthy of a King's ears – even Trace put his shower voice into practice with a few rumbling bass notes. In the end, I hugged Sky close to me.

"You've a great touch on the sax." I told her "You know it's the closest instrument to a human voice." Sky nodded mutely, and I hugged her again. We stayed up as late as we could, but in the end Mum forced us to bed – I insisted that she take my room, sleeping with Xav so she had the room to herself. I knew the second she fell asleep, and it made it easier for me to relax and let myself drift off. . .

"ZED!" I jumped awake and scrambled out of my sleeping bag, grabbing Sky, who was standing in front of me, close to me and protecting her with my body, my eyes scanning the room for the danger.

"W-what? What's happened?"

"I know who took me!" she yelled excitedly, forgetting, for once, to keep her voice down and play the timid mouse. Xav's snoring hitched and broke.

"Sky?" he grumbled "Wha's'matter?" he looked at Sky, and suddenly I noticed what she was wearing – not very much. She wore one of my old 'Wrickenridge Water Rafting' shirts that fell to mid-thigh. _For all I knew she could be wearing nothing under there_–

"Um, can you get Trace and Victor, Zed?" Sky mumbled, her cheeks a furious red as her hands tugged the shirt down "I've got something to tell them." Seeing her hands, I grinned and patted her butt.

"Go put on my dressing gown." I told her "I'll get them out of bed and meet you in the kitchen Mum and Dad will want to hear this too."

Sky told us what she remembered over a good ol' cup of tea. I concentrated on her accent to avoid actually _hearing_ what she said, what they did to her – _sharp t's; u's that sound like 'you' not 'oo'. . ._

I was aware of Victor scribbling down notes while a recorder took every breath she made down for later reference.

"Another family of savants outside the Net," Dad mused when she was finished "ones with no soulfinders to add balance. And they had O'Halloran on the payroll. Sounds to be that there's more out there than we thought."

"I know how to manipulate people's minds," Victor said, tucking the recorder away "but I would never think to do it to such an extent."

"That's because Kelly's evil and you're not." Sky suggested "I'm not joking when I said it was like brain mugging. He stole from me, trying to make me hate you." Sky's hand found mine under the table "The pictures are still there in my head even if I know they're false."

"Have you heard of a gift like the son's before?" I asked Dad, squeezing her hand supportively "I don't like the way h went after Sky, making everything worse." Dad rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"The Ute talk of people who thrive on the emotions of others. They are the parasites in the savant world."

"And the daughter, what can she do?"

"Maybe she has a gift with shields – at least she talked about breaking through mine but it wasn't strong enough to Daniel Kelly. He's very powerful. I resisted for as long as I could." I tightened my jaw, grounding my teeth together.

"Probably longer than she expected." Victor commented, looking at her keenly "And it didn't take properly, did it? You questioned all the time."

"Are you going to arrest him?"

"Ah." He sipped his coffee, and I was reminded of the outrageous time "The thing is, Sky, this isn't evidence that I can use to apprehend Daniel Kelly. He's a powerful man; his money buys a lot of silence. No judge would accept your account, especially after the confused version you've already given to the Las Vegas police accusing others." Sky's hand was limp in mine.

"Zed and Xav." She said coldly.

"Yeah. They dropped their investigation when I proved that they couldn't have had anything to do with your abduction, but it discredits you as a witness." Vic had his police head on, nodding factually as he spoke.

"I see." She huffed "So there was no pint in telling you all this?"

"Of course there's a point." He contradicted "We have the truth now and it ties up the things we didn't understand or couldn't know. It is invaluable that we are aware that there are other savants out there working on the dark side." He smiled at the Star Wars steal "Yeah, we have a dark side too in the savant world. We could've walked into all manner of traps if we'd remained in ignorance. And it raises the possibility that the mole in the FBI does not even know they're doing it. Daniel Kelly could have got to one of my colleagues and forced them to betray us. I'll have to review who's had contact with him." Sky nodded, and her eyes went towards the clock. I almost groaned – _please, don't see it, don't see it. . ._

"You know something? I want to go to school today." She declared, and I almost dropped me head into my hands.

"What? You have the perfect excuse to miss class yet you want to go?" I repeated.

"I don't like skiving. It makes me feel as if I'm sick, and if I'm letting Daniel Kelly win." She frowned.

"Well, if you put it like that, then we have to go. I'd better get ready. Man, I didn't bother to revise for my physics test thinking I'd be with you here today." I said, mentally slapping myself.

"I you're using Sky as an excuse to duck work, Zed. . ." Dad started. That was my cue to leave.

"Meet you down here in twenty minutes."

"I'll just let my parents know what I'm planning." Sky chirped, as if the thought of school actually cheered her up. Of course, Sky's parents were fine with it, and before I knew it we were zooming to school together.


	24. Chapter 24: Battling Sky

_Sorry for the wait - i could say excuses about exam period and stuff, but no one will believe them. So i had a sick-day and stayed home from school and did this to pass the time. sorry for the wait!_

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><p>I walked into school like a soldier walking into battle. People stared, curious despite themselves, and I glared back at them until they hastily looked away. Sky was trying to make herself look as small as possible, staring at her shoes.<p>

_I know what they're thinking_, she was saying to herself, _'There she is – the girl who was kidnapped. Cracked up, we hear. Gone crazy.' _

"That's not true, Sky." I murmured in her ear, pressing her close to my side "No one thinks you're mad. They understand." Of course, they wouldn't understand – I wasn't even sure _I_ understood completely what Sky has been through in her life, but I knew better than most. We were soulfinders, two people linked across continents by a bond that cannot be severed. I would protect her.

We walked into the office together, with Yves hanging behind protectively. Mr Joe's face erupted into a smile when she saw Sky.

"Little Sky!" he cried dramatically "You're back! We've all been so worried!" he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye and sniffed "Are you quite sure you are ready?"

"Yes, Mr Joe."

Mr Joe looked Yves and I from head to toe "You're going to make sure she's all right?" I could tell my sudden change from Bad Boy Benedict to the perfect boyfriend still made him distrustful of me, and still threw him off balance when it came to me.

"Yes, sir." I promised in that secret way guys do that's stronger than a hand-shake or fist-bump; I held his eyes and nodded my head once, and ever so slightly.

"You do that." he said, warning in his voice, and gave Sky a little card "Now get along with you. You don't want to be late on your first day back."

I was forced to part from her during the day, but I didn't pay attention to my lessons, preferring to keep tags on Sky and how she was doing. More than three times a teacher caught me out for 'daydreaming' in class. I could sense Sky's annoyance at people treating her like a baby, some breakable doll made of sugar glass that could shatter with a breeze too strong. At lunch, I met up with Sky for music practice. Mr Keneally pounced on her like a cat on a bird, shoving her on piano.

"But the concert's next week!" she protested.

"You're right." He revealed a stack of sheet music with a flourish "Plenty of time to learn the piece I picked out for you."

"You're expecting me to perform on my own?" she looked around the room for help, but every face was grinning back at her – even I couldn't keep a smile from my face.

"You were expecting not to?" Why learn an instrument if you don't want to be heard?" he cried to the whole room.

"I'm not sure I'm feeling up to this." She muttered fearfully.

"Nonsense. Best response to a hard knock like you've had is to fight back." I wasn't sure whether to be angry – like he had ever put up with half as much as Sky had battled through – or in awe at his truthful, shockingly wise words.

"Ok. I'll have a look at the music." She sighed.

"You'd better do more than look. Your name is already on the programme. I told Nelson to put it back on as soon as I heard you'd come to school this morning." He called over his shoulder, and Sky poked her tongue out at him behind his back.

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><p>Victor was waiting for us when we left school. I could tell he had news, and my stomach tightened in anticipation.<p>

"Maria Toscana – better known as Maria Toscana Kelly." He brought up a picture of a harsh-looking woman "She married an Italian Count but she dumped him two years ago and joined Daddy's empire. Lucky escape for him, I'd say."

"They're trying to get to me through my parents." Sky said coldly.

"And through you to us. The Kelley's score with the Benedicts has grown longer since we took out two of their men at the warehouse. It might be the lead we're looking for." Alarm bells went off in my head – my arm tightened around Sky's neck and I sat up straight.

"You can't use Sky and her parents in this, Vick." He warned. Vick snapped the laptop shut.

"We're beating out heads against a brick wall at the moment, not least on the whereabouts of the two escapees. The whole family should be behind bars, but we can't even keep those we put there under lock and key. It's frustrating to say the least."

"What do you think I can do?" Sky pressed, ignoring me. I felt like screaming, or punching something. I imagined leaning forwards and seizing control of the steering wheel, climbing into the front and speeding so far away from the Kelly's and their poison that we could forget all about them. But I knew I couldn't – so I let my fingers twitch at my side and concentrated on Sky's breathing next to me.

"I had in mind that you could wear a wire when you met Maria Toscana Kelly."

"But she'll be walking into a trap!" I yelled, feeling like I was shouting so loud that the windows would rattle and fall out into the road.

"Not if we know about it first – then we can reverse it, catch the instead." Said Vick, ignoring my tone "These people won't stop coming after us until we get them. I'm thinking of her as well as us – she's one of us too." I had never been so unhappy about Sky being one of the family; if she was just some normal girl, if her soulfinder wasn't such a danger magnet (and not in the good way), then she'd be safe at home while we all risked our necks. I'd be much happier then.

"Don't listen to him, Sky." I told her gently.

"But I can help." She insisted.

"I'd prefer to know you're safe and well even if it means that the danger doesn't go away from my family." I said resolutely.

"What's the use of that? We'll all be in a kind of prison – one run by Daniel Kelly."

"Oh God, sky, don't do this to me." I begged, putting my forehead against hers and trying to show her through eye contact how much I loved her and how much I hated _this_.

"No, I won't be doing it _to_ you, I'll be doing it _for_ all of us – and because it's the right thing." She snapped "I don't want it on my conscience that I did nothing when I had a chance to make a difference. Who else will Daniel Kelly mind-mug if I don't help stop him?"

"Vick!" I turned to my biggest brother – when I was little, he had always seemed to strong and untouchable, like a bear protecting its family, but now he looked woefully small and alone compared to the might of the Kelly's; and Sky looked so exposed I actually tugged her a little closer to me, as if it could help "You can't let anything happen to her."

Vick nodded gravely "I promise. She's one of us, isn't she? I wouldn't let those creeps get us, so I won't let them touch Sky. And she won't be going in without protection." I frowned, unconvinced.

"What kind of protection?" Sky asked Victor.

"Sky, just shut up." It came out harsher than I intended "You're not doing this. I've seen what these people can do – I'm not letting you get messed up in that." In return, I got a sharp elbow in the ribs from my sweet little angel.

"You have no right to tell me to shut up, Zed Benedict. You act like I have to be kept in cotton wool. I've seen bad stuff too – you know I have."

"Not like this. I don't want it touching you." I had no idea how I managed to squeeze the words out – in all truth, Sky terrified me when she was angry.

"So it's OK for you to fill your head with these horrors, but not me?" she insisted, not giving me an inch of room. I heard Vick chuckle in the background.

"Well, yeah."

"That's just stupid – and sexist."

"Zed, we need her." Vick butted in.

"Keep out of this, Victor." Sky snapped. That was when I knew she was _really_ pissed – she'd never used that tone with any of my brothers before. She was really a Benedict now.

"Yes, ma'am." Vick obediently replied, shocked by her tone too. Sky glared at both of us.

"I've been wanting to say this to you for some time now. You need help, Zed, help coping with the stuff your family dump in your head." I was too stunned to interrupt "I know it makes you angry and frustrated and you take it out on other people, like the teachers, because you can't reach the people who did the bad stuff. . ."

"Just a moment, Sky. . ." I interrupted – she spoke over me.

"No, you wait a moment," Her eyes blazed with fury, two orbs of blue fire with terrifyingly small dots of black in the middle that were her pupils "I'm not finished. I happen to know rather more than most about what bad experiences can do to your head and you need time to sort yourself out with Kelly's threat hanging over you. So to give you that, I'm going to Las Vegas to. . . to kick Daniel Kelly's butt."

"Well said, Sky." Vick applauded. Whatever I thought he was going to say, it wasn't that. I glowered at Sky.

"Now, back to business." Sky said briskly "What protection did you have in mind?"

"We're not finished here." I growled.

"Yes, we are." For a second, I genuinely though she was going to hit me again "Victor, you were saying?" Vick grinned at me.

"The lady's made up her mind, Zed. I'd drop it if I were you. Sky, I'll work with you on your shields. Last time, they were pretty weak. Bedroom walls, right? This time it'll be Windsor Castle thick, rings of protection, OK?"

"OK." Sky smiled. Well, at least someone could.

"And I have a few ideas of what you can do to that scum, Sean, if he goes sniffing around your emotions."

"Even better." Vick patted Sky's hand in a brotherly gesture.

"I like you, Sky. You're a fighter."

"I am, aren't I? Hear that, Zed? No more Bambi comparison. I'm a Rottweiler – with a temper." She poked my chest for emphasis.

"A very small Rottweiler." I grumbled, unconvinced, and both Sky and Vick pressed their lips together to stop laughing.


	25. Chapter 25: Sweetheart vs Soulfinder Sky

_What's that you say? A miracle? A new chapter in Zed's POV? No, it's not a hallucination, it's real, and i can't say how sorry i am at the delay - everyone's been wonderful with the support, always asking me to update, and it's really given me a kick up the arse! So here it is - only a few more chapters after this! When this fic is complete, i'll be focusing more on my other Finding Sky story, 'London Calling', which is set a few years or so after all this happens. Enjoy, and for the sake of my vanity please Review! It means the world to me, honestly!_

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><p>I should have known that the battle wouldn't end with Sky; Mum was going manic, insisting that full disclosure to Sky's parents would be best, while Sky was all for keeping it under her hat. Victor was, annoyingly, on Sky's side, and I had learnt to not say a word, move my body, or generally make any movements at all to either agree or disagree with the two main women in my life. Vic finally came up with a compromise, as usual, and thus the countdown began. . .<p>

The evening before Sky's trip to. . . before Sky's trip, I sat with my arm slung around her watching the baseball. I wasn't really watching it that much – I was, despite myself, still trying to think of ways to stop her going, save locking her in a windowless, phone-signal-less room (I considered it, but decided that letting a furious 90-pound blonde girl out of a prison cell would be the last thing I would ever do). I could see her gazing at me, the darkness of the room contrasting sharply with the almost painful brightness of the TV glare. It highlighted the curve of her cheek – was it just me, or was she looking thinner than when I first met her, all those _years_ ago? – and cast a ghostly pale glow on her lips. It deepened the natural shadows below her eyes and made her eyelids look like caverns rather than shallow dips – a part of me wondered if this was what a corpse would look like. A part of me wanted to turn the TV off so that I would have to see Sky dead. So I did the natural thing that any guy would do in my situation – I laughed.

"Sky, you're being sappy again." I informed her, glancing at her sideways.

"Is sappy the same as the English soppy?" she retorted.

"I guess."

"But I like looking at you."

"I'm trying at watch baseball here – it's, like, a scared pursuit." Sky wriggled closer to me, her nose poking my chest.

"I'm not stopping you."

"You are. I can feel your eyes on my face almost as if you were touching me."

"You've got a very nice face."

"Why, thank you, Miss Bright."

"You're welcome, Mr Benedict." She paused expectantly, then whispered conspiratorially "Now you're supposed to say 'And yours isn't that bad either'." I looked down from the baseball at see her massive bug-like eyes focused on me.

"There's a script for this? What, in 'Romance 101'?" Maybe it was manners? English people are strange. . .

"Uh-huh." She nodded, smiling "One compliment demands one in return."

I thought "Well, then, Miss Bright, you have a mighty fine. . ." Mwahahaha "left ear." Before I knew it, a handful of fluffy white was battering my face.

"I blew it?" I asked innocently, dodging the popcorn she was lobbing my way.

"Yes, you did." She reached for more popcorn, and I snatched it away before she could get any more ammunition. Then I shifted down so that Sky was lying on my chest, her ear over my heart, our toes tangled so much that it was hard to say where mine ended and hers started. I felt her soft body press against mine, curving in smooth sweeps where I was all sharp lines, soft and gentle where I was harsh and unforgiving.

"That's better." I sighed "Then let me say, Miss Bright, you have the most beautiful left ear, right ear and everything in between that I have had the privilege of seeing. I'm particularly fond of your hair, even though it does get everywhere." I spat a thin strand out of my mouth, silvery white against the TV glow. It curled in tight little baby curls.

"Well, if you do insist on kissing it." I could almost hear the eye-roll.

"Yeah, I do insist." I nodded "I'll have it written into the constitution as my personal inalienable right. I'll send a letter to the president tonight."

"Hmmm." She sounded unconvinced and looked at the screen "What's the score?"

"Who cares?" Sky hummed happily in reply. And then we just lay there, breathing together – not watching the baseball together. It felt so good, I just wanted to stay like that fore–

"Zed?" Sky interrupted my thoughts.

"Hmmm?"

"Don't you think this attempt to get me back to Vegas is, well, a bit obvious?" that was the last thing I expected, and my body went cold. I had actually been able to forget, for just a little while, that my soulfinder was willingly launching herself into a pit of snakes tomorrow.

"What do you mean?" I asked coldly.

"The Kellys," she started, then backtracked "Daniel Kelly and Maria at least – they struck me as being clever. Surely they know you would still be keeping a lookout for me? They'd expect you to be suspicious of an invitation out of the blue like this." I ran my fingers gently up and down her back, feeling the curve of her spine and wishing that her thick jumper wasn't between my skin and hers.

"Yeah, you've got a point. So what does that mean?" my stomach tightened. Something bad was about to happen – I didn't need to be a Savant to feel it thick in the air, like poison.

"I can't work it out." She shook her head, making her hair frizz up even more "Can you see what's going to happen?"

For a second, I was silent as I dipped into the future. It was the same thing I'd seen every time I had tried to see the outcome of tomorrow – _Sky, looking lost in a bright casino, a flash of loud noises, triumphant yells and desperate cries_. At this stage, we were so close I couldn't even see what she would wear clearly.

"No, I can't. I see you in Vegas – a flash of a casino – but it doesn't go any further. Like I said, I don't control when I see and with you and your family, at this distance from events, there are too many variables to get a clear picture."

"What if they're using me to draw your family in again?" Sky pressed "They might guess Victor will be on hand to protect me. I might be leading my parents and your brother into real danger."

"You forgot to mention yourself." I, with a feat of superhuman strength, managed to keep my voice cool and composed "You know I'm against you doing this. If you've got doubts, it's not too late to back out."

"But that would still leave us with your family under threat." She insisted.

"Yeah, it would." _But I'd rather you were safe_, I thought silently.

"It's not fair."

"No, but I believe we do good work when we use our gifts together. It's worth it. No one else in the Savant Net can do quite what we do." Sky pushed up on her elbows, looming over me with the TV glow hitting her face and showing her fierce expression.

"I couldn't live that way." She slid off me, sitting far away on the edge of the sofa. I could tell something was eating her up inside – I had always assumed it was the constant threat of the Kellys. But now, looking at her so far away, I wasn't so confident.

I flipped forwards and snagged her round the waist, pulling her closer to me "I want you to be happy. We'll work it out." I insisted. Because that was what soulfinders did – they worked together, as one body, to overcome anything.

"You say that now, but people let you down, you know." She said, her voice shaking "Things change. I mean, I doubt many people stay with their high school sweethearts."

_What?!_ What was she going on about? "You're not being fair, Sky. I've sensed for a few days now that you're shaken up by the soulfinder thing, but soulfinders have nothing in common with high school sweethearts – it goes much deeper."

Sky straightened "I think I'm being fair. I think I'm being mature." Fury pulsed through my body – at Sky? I wasn't sure. I wasn't _sure_.

"Is that how you see me?" I fumed "Haven't you felt what I feel? Are you still closing off your gift?" Sky's eyes were wide, and she wrapped her hands around her body, hunching her shoulders in.

"I don't know what's normal and what's not." She muttered, almost to herself "I know I love you but I just can't do this." She gestured between her and me. I was so shocked I couldn't speak for a second.

"I see." I finally choked out, moving to the other end of the sofa "Well, while I think that one out, I'll just watch the rest of the game." My lips said it of their own accord.

"Zed, please." She begged "I need to talk about this."

"We've been talking." I looked at the popcorn, and it slowly floated my way "So far we've established that I'm just a boy you're dating. You're running from the miracle that we've found each other." Sky wrung her hands, her eyes darting about the room like a caged animal, but I was too deep in my own emotional hell to notice her turmoil too.

"Look, Zed, my parents killed each other over my mother's soulfinder. I don't want history to repeat itself. I don't have that kind of strength in here." She tapped her head with her fingers. I frowned and nodded one sharp nod.

"I understand." I so did not understand "Your Mum and Dad lost it, so we will too. It doesn't make a blink bit of sense but you probably know that. The way I see it, your parents got into problems because Fate pulled a mean trick on them" – I laughed internally; yeah, right, like fate's been kind to us – "and your Mum ran out on your Dad when she should've handled finding her soulfinder more fairly. They made a mistake and you paid for it."

Sky's lips were tight as a rubber band "I'm trying to explain how I feel, Zed."

"And what about how I feel, Sky?" I snapped – I felt like all the heat in the room was rushing to my head in humid waves, making my body sweat "I'd walk across burning coals for you. Hell, I walked in front of a gun for you. But is that enough to prove I love you? That you are it for me? I don't know what more I could do." I shook my head, glancing down at the popcorn and seeing a bowl full of white flakes. I'd been crushing it in my hands in an effort to keep my temper under control.

"Please don't be angry." She whispered. I couldn't look at her.

"I'm not angry." I denied, even though I was a little bit angry "I'm disappointed."

_God, that's worse_ "I'm sorry." I didn't know what to think – I'm not sure I _could_ even think. I felt like that moment before you do something scary, like skydiving; I was stuck in that half-second of pure terror as your weight tips forwards and you mind freezes. Only it wasn't a split second. It was. . . forever. I tried to watch the game, but I couldn't make sense of it. It didn't matter – anything to avoid looking at Sky. If I looked at her, I don't know what I would do; probably shout, or break something, or say something I regret. Or, just maybe, I might just break down and cry, right there in front of her.

The screen went black.

"Hey!" I objected, lunging for the remote.

"Just give me a moment then you can switch it back on." Sky hid the remote behind her back, forcing me to look at her "I really am sorry. This is me – I'm not the most confident person. You said once I always act surprised when someone likes me – but it isn't an act. I don't expect people to like me – let alone love me. I just don't feel lovable and now you can see why. I suppose it's kinda you bad luck to end up with me as a soulfinder." She shrugged simply, honestly. Innocently. Oh, how could I be mad at her? I ran my hands over may face and through my hair, trying to decide what to say.

"I don't blame you." I finally decided on.

"I know you don't. You've seen what's inside me, warts and all." Sky laughed at little nervous laugh "You said you walked in front of a gun to show that you loved me. Well, I suppose I can only do the same for you." U guess I should have seen that one coming "I'm going to Vegas tomorrow – and I'll be doing it for you."

I was on my feet before I knew it "No way!"

"I'm not as sorted as you are about this savant stuff and we both have to live with that." she said, throwing me the remote – I caught it on reflex "I just can't risk being that was with you – I don't think I'll survive the life." She took a deep breath "But Victor's plan is the only way I can think of to give you proof that, despite my messed-up head, I do love you."

I was in turmoil – I couldn't choose one emotion to settle on, and things to say ran through my head like a video reel. I was silent.

"So, you can. . . um. . . get back to the game. I'm going to turn in – get an early night." She made to move, but I reach out my hand to stop her.

"Sky?"

"Yes?"

"I still love you – more than ever. I'll wait till you're ready." I said.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that bit." She said in an unreadable tone. I pulled her closer, not bearing the distance between us. Of course, no physical closeness could rift the emotional valley that separated Sky and me.

"I'll talk to Victor about your worries. I'm gonna insist I come home. My future sense works well just before an event even with interference. I can help anticipate problems."

"From a safe distance?" she half-demanded.

"From a reasonable distance." I complied "Close enough to be there to help, but not so close to hand the Kelleys the advantage."

"Ok." Sky said, rubbing her hand over my chest comfortingly "I can cope with that."

_Yes_, I silently replied, _but can I?_


End file.
